Court Stays 'Congress Toolkit' Probe Against Raman Singh, Says Case Lodged With Political Motives

Raman Singh sought quashing of the FIR filed on a complaint by NSUI state chief Akash Sharma. BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra is also an accused.

The High Court of Chhattisgarh has stayed the investigation into the FIR registered against BJP vice-president and former chief minister Raman Singh on a complaint that he circulated an alleged toolkit using a fake letterhead of the Congress. Mr Singh had sought quashing of the FIR filed on a complaint by Akash Sharma, state president of Congress arm NSUI. BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra is also an accused in the case. In its order on Mr Singh's plea, the bench of Justice Narendra Kumar Vyas said today that "present FIR has been registered with political motives" and that allowing the investigation to continue will be "nothing but an abuse of law". The court granted the state government three weeks' time to file a reply. The case will be heard next after four weeks. Last month, several BJP leaders shared an alleged "Congress toolkit" and accused the party of trying to smear the government and Prime Minister Narendra Modi with tips like calling the India-dominant mutant the "India strain" or the "Modi strain". The Congress called the "toolkit" fake and filed a police complaint for forgery against BJP president J P Nadda and others who shared it.