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The Rajasthan high court on Wednesday put a stay on a judicial commission probing corruption charges against the previous Bharatiya Janata Party government in the state headed by Vasundhara Raje.
The order was passed by a division bench comprising Chief Justice of the high court Jagdish Bhalla and Justice M N Bhandari while hearing a public interest litigation challenging the appointment of the Commission of inquiry under the chairmanship of retired judge N N Mathur to look into graft charges against the Raje government.
The petitioners, Kashi Purohit and K M L Asthana, had challenged the appointment of the Commission alleging that it was constituted without following proper legislative procedures.
The judicial commission was constituted without holding a debate on the subject in the state assembly, which did not pass a resolution recommending a judicial probe into the charges, a prerequisite under the Commission of Inquiries Act, 1952, the petitioners alleged in the plea.
The division bench also granted two weeks' time to the Advocate General G S Bapna to clarify the stand of the state government in this regard.
The appointment of the Mathur Commission was one of the major decisions taken by the Congress government headed by Ashok Gehlot soon after coming to power in the state last year.
While campaigning for assembly polls in the state last year the Congress had alleged that there had been corruption cases to the tune of Rs 12,000 crore during Raje's tenure.