CBI summons ex-Uttarakhand CM Harish Rawat for questioning in sting CD case

NEW DELHI: The Central Bureau of Investigation on Thursday issued summons to former Uttarakhand chief minister Harish Rawat in connection with a sting CD that allegedly showed some MLAs being offered bribes.
The sting video - shot by a private TV channel and released by rebel leaders - showed the chief minister purportedly talking to a man whose face is not visible.
The nine rebel Congress leaders claimed that Rawat had tried to win their support by offering them money.

The CBI has asked Harish Rawat to appear before it on Monday for questioning in connection with the alleged sting operation.
The investigating agency had registered a preliminary enquiry in the matter last week.
The Union home ministry had sent the sting CD to Chandigarh forensics laboratory for examining its authenticity.
The Central Forensic Science Laboratory, in its report submitted to the government, has said that the sting operation CD released by rebel Congress leaders against Rawat is genuine.
The BJP, which is the main opposition party in the state, had earlier demanded a CBI probe into the case, claiming that Rawat had lost his credibility after the CD came to the fore.
Last week, Harish Rawat virtually accepted his presence in the sting tape. He, however, said meeting a journalist was not a crime.
"Is meeting a journalist a crime? If one of the MLAs who had not been technically disqualified by that time talked to me ... how does it matter? Do we block any channels in politics?" Rawat had reporters on Sunday.