Uttarakhand minister offers to quit if govt's involvement proved

Uttarakhand Food and Civil Supplies Minister Diwakar Bhatt on Sunday asserted that the state government had no role in the withdrawal of a case against him and said he would resign from the post if the allegation is proved.

The case, which was withdrawn recently on the order of a Haridwar court, dates back to 17 years and pertains to the alleged use of fraudulent papers to lease a large chunk of land in Haridwar belonging to Haridwar Municipal Council.

Bhatt reportedly has been running a society called ‘Tarun Himalaya’ on that land since then.

Bhatt said that it was the previous Congress government led by N D Tiwari that had prayed to the court to take back the case against him.

Bhatt further said at that time, the court did not allow the government to withdraw the case as two more persons were also involved in the matter.

The-then government again approached the court to drop the case against all the accused. "The recent order of the court to allow the government to take back the case has come on the-then government's plea only," Bhatt claimed.

Bhatt's statement came after a Congress delegation led by Uttarakhand PCC President Yashpal Arya met Governor B L Joshi yesterday to lodge a protest against state government's move to take back criminal cases against its minister and other leaders belonging to BJP and friendly parties. The leaders urged the Governor to intervene in the matter.

Bhatt is the lone minister from Uttarakhand Kranti Dal (UKD), the coalition partner of BJP government in the state.