SC stays HC order for CBI probe against Uttarakhand CM on corruption allegations

New Delhi: The Supreme Court Thursday stayed the Uttarakhand High Court order for a CBI probe into the allegations by two scribes that money was transferred into the accounts of relatives of state Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat in 2016 to support appointment of a person as head of 'Gau Seva Ayog' of Jharkhand. A bench headed by Justice Ashok Bhushan said the "drastic order" passed by the high court without hearing the Chief Minister has taken "everybody by surprise" as there was no prayer in the plea by the journalists to lodge an FIR against Rawat.

Attorney General K K Venugopal, appearing for Rawat, said that an FIR cannot be lodged without hearing the party who is the Chief Minister and this would "unsettle the elected government".

"An elected government cannot be unsettled like this. The question is can a suo motu order be passed without hearing the party," Venugopal told the bench.