A special CBI court has ordered four leaders, including former Uttarakhand chief minister Harish Rawat, to give their voice samples in the 2016 'sting operation' case.
Special Judge Dharmendra Adhikari on Monday ordered senior Congress leader Rawat, former state minister Harak Singh Rawat, Congress MLA from Dwarahat Madan Bisht along with Umesh Sharma, the journalist who carried out the alleged sting operation and now Independent MLA from Khanpur, to give their voice samples.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) will issue separate notices to these leaders regarding when and where their voice samples will be taken.
Earlier, during the hearing of the case on July 15, the lawyers of all the leaders except Umesh Sharma had questioned the seeking of voice samples by the CBI on the grounds that a petition related to the case is pending in the Uttarakhand High Court, which is likely to pronounce to its verdict on July 27.
The sting operation came to the fore in 2016 after 10 Congress MLAs rebelled against the Harish Rawat-led government and joined hands with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
The CBI had sought permission from the court to match the voices heard in this sting.
In the video, Rawat was allegedly bargaining with dissident MLAs to save his government.
At that time President's rule was imposed in the state following the rebellion of Congress MLAs. However, the Rawat government was reinstated after it secured a majority in the floor test held on the direction of the Supreme Court, but the rebel MLAs were denied the right to vote in it.