Considering Filing Defamation Case Against Scribe, Says Harendra Rawat

Retired professor Harendra Rawat, who has been accused by a journalist of having received money from a man in Jharkhand for Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat, on Thursday said he was considering filing a defamation case against the scribe. He also asserted that he and his wife were not even remotely related to the chief minister.

Terming the allegations made against him and his wife by journalist Umesh Sharma through a social media post as “unfounded”, Harendra Rawat said they have not only hurt the image of his family but also that of the chief minister. The retired professor, who is recuperating after a heart surgery, said he was hurt at the damage done to his reputation and was seriously considering filing a defamation case against Sharma.

Posting a video on social media on June 24, the journalist had alleged that a man named Amritesh Chauhan from Jharkhand had deposited money into the accounts of the retired professor and his wife post demonetisation for the personal benefit of the CM. It was also claimed in the post that the retired professor’s wife Savita Rawat was the sister of the chief minister’s wife Sunita Rawat.

Details of the bank transaction had also been shared in the post in support of the charges. The retired professor had filed an FIR against Sharma on July 31, terming the charges as “false” and “unfounded”.

He said he had also requested the police to conduct a thorough probe into the matter by a Special Investigation Team. Defending himself, Harendra Rawat said he had also got all his family’s bank accounts checked and they showed no monetary transaction from Jharkhand.

Expressing surprise and anger, the retired professor wondered how Sharma got details of his bank accounts and how the latter made them public on social media. “I cannot say anything against the banks, but I wonder how personal details were shared,” he said.

On asked why his name was dragged into the case, Harendra Rawat said it was a matter of investigation, adding that he may have been targeted as he was advisor to Trivendra Singh Rawat when the latter was agriculture minister in 2011. The Uttarakhand High Court had on Tuesday quashed an FIR registered against the journalist for the social media post and issued instructions that a CBI inquiry be conducted into the charges.