Harak Singh Rawat Hits Back After Jaini’s Allegations, Vows to File Defamation Case in High Court
Dehradun, early November 2026. The old Jaini case has blown up again in Uttarakhand politics, and this time the response from Harak Singh Rawat has been sharp and personal.
On Saturday, Jaini (also referred to as Jenny or Indrani Devi in some reports) held a press conference in Dehradun. She repeated serious allegations against Harak Singh Rawat from more than two decades ago. She claimed that in 2002-03, when she was around 16, she stayed at his Yamuna Colony residence for nearly two months after coming to the city looking for work. She alleged sexual assault, said she was taken to places like Madhuban Hotel and Mussoorie, and later claimed she was put in a mental health facility where she discovered she was pregnant. She said her son, now 23, has grown up without a father’s name and demanded a fresh CBI probe, DNA test, and even narco analysis. She also met the DGP and sought police protection, saying she feared for her life.
Harak Singh Rawat did not stay quiet. The senior Congress leader and former cabinet minister, who currently heads the party’s election management committee in the state, called a press interaction at the Congress office. He rejected the allegations completely. He said the matter had already been investigated by the CBI years ago, DNA tests were done, and the courts had accepted the reports. According to him, he received a clean chit. He insisted the case was closed after both sides agreed and the court accepted the findings. Raising it again, he argued, amounts to contempt of court.
Rawat went further. He called the entire episode a political conspiracy by the BJP. He linked it to the upcoming 2027 assembly elections and accused the ruling party of trying to divert attention from issues like the Ankita Bhandari murder case, paper leaks, unemployment, and alleged corruption. “CM Dhami started this game,” he said. “Harak Singh Rawat will end it.” He named Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, state BJP president Mahendra Bhatt, and some social media handles as people he intends to sue for defamation. He said he would move the High Court through his lawyers.
He reminded people of his own actions back then. When the allegations first surfaced during the ND Tiwari government, Rawat said he himself demanded a CBI inquiry and resigned from the minister’s post. He claimed the then-central government under Atal Bihari Vajpayee was informed. He also pointed out that voters in his constituency returned him to the assembly three times after the controversy, calling the people’s court the biggest court of all. He said Jaini stayed at his house for only a couple of days before being sent to a women’s facility, and that he never touched her. He has previously sworn on family and deities regarding his innocence.
The history of the case is complicated. In 2003, CBI registered a case under Section 376 on the basis of Jaini’s statement. There was a DNA test. Later, in 2016, Jaini reportedly gave a statement withdrawing or softening her earlier claims and alleged political pressure from the then Harish Rawat government. Now she says she was not satisfied with the earlier probe and wants it reopened for her son’s rights. Police have started looking into her fresh complaint.
Rawat has dealt with similar attacks before. He mentioned earlier defamation cases he filed against people like Vijay Barthwal and Asha Nautiyal, which he later withdrew on advice. This time he says he will not hold back. “Those trying to tarnish my image will face legal action,” he stated. He framed the revival of the case as BJP’s nervousness ahead of elections, especially when Congress has been raising other governance issues.
The timing has made the political temperature rise. With assembly polls still some months away, both sides are using the old case to score points. BJP leaders have questioned Congress’s moral position and demanded action against Rawat within the party. Congress has closed ranks around him for now, treating the charges as motivated. Ordinary people in the state are watching a familiar script: an old personal allegation dragged into the public square just when other uncomfortable topics are in the air.
Rawat’s language has been direct and confrontational. He has not tried to soft-pedal. By naming the Chief Minister and the state BJP president and promising High Court action, he has turned a defensive reply into an open political fight. Whether the courts will entertain a fresh defamation plea on a matter that already went through CBI and judicial scrutiny remains to be seen. For the moment, the exchange has pushed the Jaini episode back onto the front pages and given both parties fresh ammunition.
In the end, this is what Uttarakhand politics often looks like—old files opened, serious personal charges traded, and governance questions pushed to the side. Harak Singh Rawat has drawn a clear line: he will fight the allegations in court as defamation. Jaini says she will not leave Dehradun until her son gets justice and a father’s name. The legal and political processes will now decide how far either claim goes.
Sources: ABP Live, Amar Ujala, The Print Hindi, Jagran, NewsTak, ETV Bharat, and related contemporaneous reports from early November 2026.
Harak Singh Rawat Hits Back After Jaini’s Allegations, Vows to File Defamation Case in High Court
Dehradun, early November 2026. The old Jaini case has blown up again in Uttarakhand politics, and this time the response from Harak Singh Rawat has been sharp and personal.
On Saturday, Jaini (also referred to as Jenny or Indrani Devi in some reports) held a press conference in Dehradun. She repeated serious allegations against Harak Singh Rawat from more than two decades ago. She claimed that in 2002-03, when she was around 16, she stayed at his Yamuna Colony residence for nearly two months after coming to the city looking for work. She alleged sexual assault, said she was taken to places like Madhuban Hotel and Mussoorie, and later claimed she was put in a mental health facility where she discovered she was pregnant. She said her son, now 23, has grown up without a father’s name and demanded a fresh CBI probe, DNA test, and even narco analysis. She also met the DGP and sought police protection, saying she feared for her life.
Harak Singh Rawat did not stay quiet. The senior Congress leader and former cabinet minister, who currently heads the party’s election management committee in the state, called a press interaction at the Congress office. He rejected the allegations completely. He said the matter had already been investigated by the CBI years ago, DNA tests were done, and the courts had accepted the reports. According to him, he received a clean chit. He insisted the case was closed after both sides agreed and the court accepted the findings. Raising it again, he argued, amounts to contempt of court.
Rawat went further. He called the entire episode a political conspiracy by the BJP. He linked it to the upcoming 2027 assembly elections and accused the ruling party of trying to divert attention from issues like the Ankita Bhandari murder case, paper leaks, unemployment, and alleged corruption. “CM Dhami started this game,” he said. “Harak Singh Rawat will end it.” He named Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, state BJP president Mahendra Bhatt, and some social media handles as people he intends to sue for defamation. He said he would move the High Court through his lawyers.
He reminded people of his own actions back then. When the allegations first surfaced during the ND Tiwari government, Rawat said he himself demanded a CBI inquiry and resigned from the minister’s post. He claimed the then-central government under Atal Bihari Vajpayee was informed. He also pointed out that voters in his constituency returned him to the assembly three times after the controversy, calling the people’s court the biggest court of all. He said Jaini stayed at his house for only a couple of days before being sent to a women’s facility, and that he never touched her. He has previously sworn on family and deities regarding his innocence.
The history of the case is complicated. In 2003, CBI registered a case under Section 376 on the basis of Jaini’s statement. There was a DNA test. Later, in 2016, Jaini reportedly gave a statement withdrawing or softening her earlier claims and alleged political pressure from the then Harish Rawat government. Now she says she was not satisfied with the earlier probe and wants it reopened for her son’s rights. Police have started looking into her fresh complaint.
Rawat has dealt with similar attacks before. He mentioned earlier defamation cases he filed against people like Vijay Barthwal and Asha Nautiyal, which he later withdrew on advice. This time he says he will not hold back. “Those trying to tarnish my image will face legal action,” he stated. He framed the revival of the case as BJP’s nervousness ahead of elections, especially when Congress has been raising other governance issues.
The timing has made the political temperature rise. With assembly polls still some months away, both sides are using the old case to score points. BJP leaders have questioned Congress’s moral position and demanded action against Rawat within the party. Congress has closed ranks around him for now, treating the charges as motivated. Ordinary people in the state are watching a familiar script: an old personal allegation dragged into the public square just when other uncomfortable topics are in the air.
Rawat’s language has been direct and confrontational. He has not tried to soft-pedal. By naming the Chief Minister and the state BJP president and promising High Court action, he has turned a defensive reply into an open political fight. Whether the courts will entertain a fresh defamation plea on a matter that already went through CBI and judicial scrutiny remains to be seen. For the moment, the exchange has pushed the Jaini episode back onto the front pages and given both parties fresh ammunition.
In the end, this is what Uttarakhand politics often looks like—old files opened, serious personal charges traded, and governance questions pushed to the side. Harak Singh Rawat has drawn a clear line: he will fight the allegations in court as defamation. Jaini says she will not leave Dehradun until her son gets justice and a father’s name. The legal and political processes will now decide how far either claim goes.
Sources: ABP Live, Amar Ujala, The Print Hindi, Jagran, NewsTak, ETV Bharat, and related contemporaneous reports from early November 2026.
@Rohit Manral
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