The CBI will file an FIR against the former Chief Minister Harish Rawat in the case of legislators trading. The CBI gave this information before a single bench of High Court Justice RC Khulbe during the hearing of the case. The next hearing will now be on 20 September.

According to the case, in 2016, a private channel showed a sting of the then Chief Minister Harish Rawat. In this sting, Rawat has seen bargaining with MLAs to save the government. During this period some Congress MLAs joined BJP and the state was under President’s rule. The matter of imposing President’s rule first reached the High Court and later the Supreme Court, consequently, the Rawat government was restored.

Even before the resumption of the government, during the President’s rule, on the recommendation of the Governor, the Center had issued orders to get the CBI to investigate the sting case. When the Rawat government was reinstated, it was decided to withdraw the recommendation of the CBI inquiry done by the Governor in the cabinet meeting and get the matter investigated by the SIT. If it is not approved by the central government, a PI (preliminary inquiry) was conducted against Rawat by the CBI.

Harish Rawat had filed a petition in the High Court against the CBI investigation, on which the hearing is going on. Former Congress leader Harak Singh Rawat, who joined the BJP, also filed a petition in this matter. Seeking to register an FIR on Harish Rawat, he said that the meeting of the state cabinet to quash the CBI probe was not valid. In the hearing on August 21 in the case, the CBI had informed the CBI about the completion of preliminary investigation in the Sting case and requested for an early hearing. In the latest hearing, the CBI told the court that it was going to register an FIR against former Chief Minister Harish Rawat in this case.