New Delhi, Nov 27: Declaring the Mumbai High Court's refusal to hand over the stamp paper scam to CBI as a "vindication" of the party's stand on the issue, Congress today asked Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani to retract his statement that Maharashtra government was shying away from a CBI probe into the multi-crore scandal. "We have been saying that there is no need for a CBI probe as Special Investigation Team (SIT) is effectively probing the scandal under the supervision of the Mumbai High Court. The HC order declining to hand over the investigation to CBI vindicates our stand. We demand that Advani should retract his statement in this regard", party spokesman Anand Sharma told reporters here.

The high court had declined to hand over investigations into the scam to cbi and asked the Special Investigation Team (SIT) to continue its probe into it.

Advani had earlier stated that the congress-ruled Maharashtra and Karnataka governments were shying away from a CBI probe.
Reacting over the high court order, Sharma said that it was now for Advani to clarify whether "he would still stick to his earlier statement or change it".

"BJP owes an explanation to the nation," he added.

Bureau Report