Honey-Trap Case: HC Junks Plea Seeking Probe Against Ex-CM Kamal Nath
Indore (Madhya Pradesh): High Court has dismissed a public interest litigation (PIL) seeking a CBI probe against former Chief Minister Kamal Nath in connection with the honey-trap scandal.
A division bench comprising of Justice Vivek Rusia and Justice Binod Kumar Dwivedi delivered the order on Thursday. The court ruled that there was no evidence to support claims that Kamal Nath possessed a pen drive containing incriminating videos of BJP leaders, as alleged in the PIL.
The petition was filed in 2023 by advocate Bhupendra Singh. He accused Kamal Nath of publicly claiming he had seen the honey-trap videos and had a pen drive containing BJP leaders’ clips but failed to hand it over to the SIT investigating the case. The PIL also named former minister Govind Singh as a respondent along with the police and SIT.
During the hearing, the court questioned the petitioner’s lawyer about the basis of these claims. The lawyer relied on media reports and television broadcasts in which Kamal Nath was said to have made such statements. The court, however, found no admissible evidence such as recordings or CDs of the alleged statements submitted before it.
The bench observed that allegations based solely on media reports were insufficient grounds for ordering a CBI inquiry. The court criticised the failure to produce any concrete evidence and ultimately dismissed the PIL.
Background of the Honey-Trap Case
The honey-trap scandal surfaced on September 17, 2019 when Indore Municipal Corporation’s then superintendent engineer Harbhajan Singh filed a police complaint stating he was blackmailed with obscene videos. The accused allegedly demanded Rs 3 crore to keep the videos private.
Police arrested eight people, including six women. Among those arrested were Aarti, Monika, Shweta (wife of Vijay), Shweta (wife of Swapnil) and Barkha. They were sent to jail by the court but later granted bail. Driver Omprakash Kori was also arrested.
Other accused include Abhishek Thakur and Rupa. According to the FIR filed by Harbhajan Singh, Bhopal-based Aarti (wife of Pankaj Dayal) introduced him to 18-year-old BSc student Monika.
Aarti reportedly filmed them together at a hotel in Indore, launching an eight-month-long blackmail operation. The complainant claimed to have paid them on three occasions before police caught Aarti and Monika in Indore while they were allegedly collecting an additional Rs 50 lakh.
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