Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat served notice in Rajasthan horse-trading case

Jaipur: The officials of the Special Operation Group (SOG) on Monday issued notice to Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat in the case of alleged horse-trading of MLAs in Rajasthan.

A notice has been served to the minister through his personal secretary," confirmed Ashok Rathore, additional director-general of police (ADGP), SOG, Rajasthan.

Shekhawat's personal secretary has confirmed of receiving the notice, however, he said the authenticity of the audio tapes must be proved first.

Chief minister Ashok Gehlot's camp had released three audio clips a few days ago with purported conversation recorded between Congress MLA Bhanwarlal Sharma, an agent Sanjay Jain and Shekhawat.

A notice in this context has also been sent to Bhanwarlal Sharma and Sanjay Jain has already been arrested.

During the hearing in the Rajasthan High Court on a petition filed by Congress rebel Sachin Pilot and 18 other Congress MLAs against disqualification notices issued to them by the Assembly Speaker, Abhishek Manu Singhvi, appearing on behalf of the Speaker, argued that the petition of the Pilot faction is pre-matured and hence should be dismissed. Arguing the case Singhvi said, "The Speaker has just given notices, not disqualified the MLAs. The Speaker's order can be challenged only on limited ground, so there is no basis in the petition filed by the Pilot faction."

"The Supreme Court in its decision on January 21 said that the Court cannot interfere in the powers of the Speaker, so why is this being debated?" Singhvi questioned adding "There cannot be a judicial review of the notice of the Speaker. The notice is not against the Freedom of Speech. Anti-party activities are political sins and also legally wrong," he added. Amid the ongoing political turmoil in Rajasthan, Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Monday fired a fresh salvo at his political rival Sachin Pilot alleging that he played a very dirty game and conspired to topple his own government. After terming him 'Nikamma' (useless) and 'Nakara' (purposeless), he ended his speech saying Satyamev Jayate.