Rajasthan anti-corruption body notice to Union minister

Union minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat has been served a court notice by Rajasthan Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) in an alleged case of horse-trading relating to the allegations of a conspiracy to pull down the Ashok Gehlot government in 2020.

The notice was issued by a Jaipur court after the ACB filed a revision petition seeking voice samples of Gajendra Singh Shekhawat.

The minister has been asked to file his reply by July 14, sources have said. Last year, a lower court rejected the anti-graft body’s plea. Subsequently, the ACB filed a revision petition, on which the court has now sought Shekhawat’s reply.

Soon after the notice was issued to Singh, Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot launched a scathing attack on the Union Minister, alleging that he along with Congress leader Sachin Pilot tried to dislodge his government two years ago.

Gehlot’s remarks come after Shekhawat at a meeting in Chomu town of Jaipur that if Sachin Pilot had not missed the chance to change the government in Rajasthan, then water would have come through the Eastern Rajasthan Canal Project.

“Now you are taking the name of Sachin Pilot that he missed the opportunity, which shows you were in connivance with him,” Gehlot said.

The Chief Minister said Shekhawat kept on saving himself but eventually received the court notice. “What is the problem in giving voice samples? ” he asked.

Amid a rebellion led by the then Deputy Chief Minister Sachin Pilot in 2020, three audio clips had emerged online in which some rebel Congress leaders appeared to be in conversation with a BJP leader, discussing bribes to topple the Ashok Gehlot government.

The Congress had claimed that the audio clips had voices of Gajendra Singh, rebel Congress MLAs Bhanwar Lal Sharma and Vishvendra Singh.

Congress leader Mahesh Josh then had registered FIRs with the Anti-Corruption Bureau and the Special Operations Group (SOG) on the basis of the audio clips.