Jaipur/Jodhpur, Sep 27 (IANS): Union Culture and Tourism Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat on Friday slammed former Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot saying that the latter never had the intention to seek justice for the victims of Sanjivani Credit Co-operative Society.

The Minister accused Gehlot of doing politics on this issue even today. "Now when he sees himself trapped in defamation, he remembers the respect of my late mother," said Shekhawat.

Shekhawat got a clean chit in the Sanjivani case from the Rajasthan High Court on Wednesday.

Soon after, Gehlot said in a post on Thursday, "After the change of power in the state, SOG took a U-turn in the High Court. The investigating officer (IO) of this case was also removed and the government lawyers nominated by the BJP government also sided with the Union Minister. Despite all this, the High Court has not quashed the FIR as per the petition of the minister. The High Court said that further action can be taken by taking permission from the trial court."

Reacting to a statement of the former Chief Minister, Shekhawat said, "Ashok Gehlot is upset with the clean chit I got from the High Court in the Sanjivani case. As long as he was in power, he kept trying to trap me by misusing the resources of the government. He spent Rs 40 crore from the government fund on lawyers to trap me, but the public responded by ousting him from power."

Shekhawat said, "It is surprising that he is now remembering the respect for my late mother. When he made baseless statements about my late mother, why did he not have such respect then? Now that the defamation case against him in the court has become stronger, he is afraid of the law."

The Union Minister said that Ashok Gehlot has no faith in government agencies at all. Shekhawat said," I have full faith in the Constitution of India and the judicial system. The former Chief Minister will soon be punished for the conspiracy he hatched against his opponents with malice. This has become more clear from his statement in his defence."

A day before, Gehlot referred to the letter number SOG/SFIU/INV/2023/220 written to the Government Advocate on April 12, 2023, and said that the SOG had sent a factual report on which it was written that Shekhawat and his family members were involved in the crime and considered them accused. "It was written in this report that Gajendra Singh Shekhawat has a direct connection with the companies which are involved in the Sanjivani scam."

He further mentioned Shekhawat's late mother and said, "Shekhawat also mentioned the allegations against his late mother in his statements yesterday. I have full respect for his late mother, but as the Home Minister of the state, it was my duty to present the facts brought before me before the victims and the public," said Gehlot and added, "Now after the change of government in the state, the BJP government put pressure on SOG, due to which SOG took a U-turn in the court and did not consider them accused".

"My demand is that for a fair investigation, an SIT should be formed under the chairmanship of a retired High Court judge and this case should be investigated so that it can be known whether the wrong investigation was done by SOG during the Congress rule or whether the SOG has prepared a wrong report under pressure now. During the Congress government, SOG had even conducted a forensic audit of this case. My aim is to ensure justice to lakhs of victims and get their life's hard-earned money back to them," the Minister said.