Governor gives clean chit to Omar Abdullah

Omar Abdullah got a reprieve on Thursday when Jammu and Kashmir governor NN Vohra rejected his resignation and asked him to “vigorously devote himself to discharging his responsibilities”, since the allegations against him were “baseless”.

Omar had submitted his conditional resignation on Tuesday after People’s Democratic Party (PDP) member and former deputy chief minister Muzaffar Hussain Beigh alleged that his name figured in the list of suspects in the Srinagar sex scandal of 2006.
Vohra said he came to the decision after studying the information given to him by the Union home ministry.  “Accordingly, the governor advised Omar to vigorously devote himself to discharging responsibilities of the chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir,” an official spokesperson said.

The governor’s clean chit came a day after the CBI cleared Omar’s name in the sex scandal. The CBI in its communication to  legislative assembly secretary Mohammad Ramzan said Omar’s name did not figure in the list of accused.

Minutes after the governor’s clearance, Omar said his stand had been vindicated. “If I had moved heavens, the opposition would not have been convinced about my innocence. The governor’s letter has proven my innocence,” he said.

PDP president Mehbooba Mufti sarcastically said, “We salute the governor. He did in 48 hours what the CBI, police and courts could not do in years.”