Harish Rawat seeks fresh date from CBI for appearance in CD case

DEHRADUN: Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat today did not appear before the CBI in connection with a probe into the purported sting operation involving him and has sought a fresh date for it.

The matter pertains to CBI's ongoing probe into the alleged sting operation purportedly showing Rawat negotiating a deal to buy support of disgruntled Congress MLAs to save his government earlier this year.

Rawat has written to the apex investigating agency expressing his inability to appear before it and sought a fresh date for the purpose, his media advisor and spokesman Surendra Kumar said.

He had been served summons by the CBI on Friday last, asking him to appear before it today.

After the CBI summons were issued to him, Rawat had questioned its timing and accused the Centre of using the investigating agency as a tool to frame him as Assembly elections were round the corner in Uttarakhand.

This is the second time that Rawat has been summoned by the CBI on a Preliminary Enquiry (PE) registered by it in last seven months. He had earlier appeared before the agency on May 24 during which he was questioned for nearly five hours.