By IANS
New Delhi/Lucknow : Union Human Resource Development Minister and senior Congress leader Arjun Singh faces a dowry harassment case, registered on a complaint from the father of his granddaughter-in-law, even as the Uttar Pradesh government decided to hand over the probe to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
Arjun Singh denied here Monday any association with the branch of his family directly implicated by the erstwhile ruler of Narauli Madhvendra Singh.
Reacting to the report about the case being registered, he told reporters: "It has nothing to do with me. I stay away from family matters".
Meanwhile, the Mayawati-led Uttar Pradesh government decided to entrust the probe into the case to CBI.
"Since the matter involves a senior central minister and his immediate family members, the state government has decided to hand over the entire case to the country's premier investigation agency," Uttar Pradesh Home Secretary Javeed Ahmed told reporters in Lucknow Monday evening.
Madhvendra Singh, whose daughter Priyanka had married Arjun Singh's grandson Abhijit Singh, has alleged that the minister and his family members have been demanding a Mercedes car along with a flat in Noida near Delhi as dowry and have even beaten his daughter for not giving in to their demands.
He complained to the chief judicial magistrate (CJM) of Chandausi who directed the Moradabad police to register a case of dowry harassment.
The CJM of Moradabad passed orders for the registration of the case July 27. The magistrate directed the police to name Arjun Singh, his wife, his son Abhimanyu Singh, daughter-in-law Beena Singh, sister-in-law Aradhana Singh, grandson Abhijit, brother-in-law Dilip Singh and Dilip's daughter Mandakani Singh as accused in the case.
Moradabad's Senior Superintendent of Police Prem Prakash admitted that the case was registered at the instance of the magistrate.
When asked why there was a two-day delay in registering a case despite the court order, Prakash said: "An inquiry was being conducted into the matter."