Shimla, Apr 1,
In Shimla, on April 1st, the Himachal Pradesh High Court extended the anticipatory bail of Independent MLAs Ashish Sharma along with Rakesh Sharma, the former Chief Secretary of Uttarakhand and father of disqualified Congress MLA Chaytenya Sharma, until April 26th.
The bail application was scheduled for confirmation before Justice Ranjan Sharma. The state opposed bail confirmation, citing allegations of horse trading and influencing the Rajya Sabha election.
The Advocate General Anup Rattan stated that one of the accused, Rakesh Sharma, is not cooperating in a desired manner in the preliminary investigation. The state also informed the court that Sharma allegedly threatened the investigating officer, claiming his status as a former bureaucrat and even suggesting he might commit suicide if the investigation proceeded. Moreover, there were accusations of mounting pressure on the investigating officer, with claims that the state government would be toppled within two months.
The court directed the state to submit a status report on the investigation and ordered both bail applicants to appear before the Special Investigation Team (SIT) formed by the state police, as and when called upon.
Additionally, the court instructed the state to respond to the plea seeking to quash the FIRs, merging it with the anticipatory bail application. Last month, the duo was granted anticipatory bail by the Himachal Pradesh High Court. They stand accused of influencing Rajya Sabha elections unfairly, with allegations including vote buying, bribery, and conspiracy to overthrow the government.
