The Madhya Pradesh High Court has dismissed a public interest litigation (PIL) seeking directions to Congress leaders Kamal Nath and Govind Singh to hand over an alleged CD linked to the high-profile honeytrap scandal to the Special Investigation Team (SIT). The bench found no substantial evidence to support the claim that the leaders possessed the CD.
The PIL was filed in 2023 by Indore-based lawyer Bhupendra Singh Kushwaha, who cited public statements reportedly made by the two leaders claiming they had access to the alleged CD. Kamal Nath served as chief minister from December 2018 to March 2020, and Govind Singh was a cabinet minister during that period.
However, a division bench comprising Justices Vivek Rusia and Binod Kumar Dwivedi, in its order dated July 10, held that mere newspaper reports cannot be treated as legal evidence without corroboration.
“In this matter, a chargesheet has already been filed and the trial is underway,” the court observed. “The petitioner relied on newspaper reports but has not provided any affidavit or personal knowledge to confirm that the CD is indeed in their possession. Courts cannot act on media reports without substantive proof.”
The honeytrap case, which emerged in 2019, involved the arrest of five women and a driver in Bhopal and Indore. The police, in their December 2019 chargesheet, described the group as an organised syndicate that used young women, brought to the state via human trafficking, to lure influential individuals into compromising situations.
According to investigators, hidden cameras were used to record intimate encounters, and the gang then used such footage, along with social media chats, to extort money from the victims. The scandal sent shockwaves through political and bureaucratic circles, prompting the formation of an SIT to probe deeper into the network’s operations.
With the trial now progressing, the court ruled that further directions based on unverified claims would not be legally tenable.
