The CBI has asked Uttarakhand CM Harish Rawat to appear before it on Tuesday for investigations into a sting operation allegedly involving him. The agency had last week rejected the Uttarakhand government’s order withdrawing the case on the sting.

The CBI clarified that the state government’s notification was rejected on legal advice, that stated there was no ground for its withdrawal and it was “not legally tenable”.

The CBI will continue its preliminary enquiry into the alleged attempts at “horse-trading” of MLAs to save the Rawat government. It had registered a “preliminary enquiry” on April 29 to investigate the “sting” that apparently showed Mr Rawat offering bribes to rebel Congress MLAs to support him during a floor test in the Uttarakhand Assembly.

The CBI had summoned Mr Rawat on May 9 but he had sought more time, after which he won the floor test and returned to power.

The CM has denied the allegations and called the video “doctored” after it was released by rebel Congress MLAs.

However, he had later admitted he was on camera in the sting operation but claimed its contents had been edited and taken out of context.