The Himachal Pradesh High Court, on Monday, prolonged the interim anticipatory bail for Ashish Sharma, an independent MLA from Hamirpur, and Rakesh Sharma, the father of Gagret MLA Chaitanya Sharma, until April 26. The duo was implicated in charges related to electoral offences and criminal conspiracy by the police.
Ashish Sharma, who is now a BJP candidate from the Gagret Vidhan Sabha, and Chaitanya Sharma were part of a group of nine MLAs—including six Congress rebels and three independents—who supported the BJP nominee, Harsh Mahajan, in the Rajya Sabha elections held recently. Subsequently, all these MLAs have joined the BJP.
According to Advocate General Anoop Rattan, the court’s decision to extend the interim bail was accompanied by an instruction for the accused to cooperate with the ongoing investigations and to present themselves before the investigating officer as required.
The Advocate General raised concerns about Rakesh Sharma, a retired bureaucrat, for not complying with previous court orders to participate in the investigation and for allegedly threatening the investigating officer when prompted to cooperate with the police.
Additionally, both accused have taken a proactive step by submitting a new application to the High Court, seeking the dismissal of the FIR lodged against them. The court has called upon the state government to respond to this application and has scheduled further deliberations for April 26, Rattan noted.
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This legal controversy stems from a case registered by the Shimla Police last month against these individuals and other MLAs, pertaining to ‘electoral offences’, bribery, and criminal conspiracy connected to the Rajya Sabha elections. The charges were based on allegations of ‘horse trading and misuse of money to influence the elections’, detailed in a complaint by Congress MLAs Sanjay Avasthi and Bhuvneshwar Gaur.
The accused are facing serious allegations under various sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, which include undue influence on elections, bribery, criminal conspiracy, and misconduct by public servants.
