Tue Sep 16 22:59:00 UTC 2025: **News Article:**

**Rajasthan High Court Exonerates Businessmen in Congress Government Conspiracy Case**

**Jaipur, September 17, 2025** – The Rajasthan High Court has accepted the Anti-Corruption Bureau’s (ACB) closure report, effectively ending the case concerning an alleged conspiracy to destabilize the Ashok Gehlot-led Congress government in 2020. The court’s decision exonerates businessmen Ashok Singh and Bharat Malani, who were accused of attempting to bribe Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs) to orchestrate the government’s downfall.

The ACB, in its closure report, stated there was no tangible evidence to support the allegations of bribery, horse-trading, or a political conspiracy. The report emphasized that the intercepted phone calls, which initially sparked the investigation, did not contain any discussions about bribing MLAs to topple the government.

Justice Ashutosh Kumar of the High Court quashed the case against Singh and Malani on Monday, September 15, 2025, based on the ACB’s findings. The Special Operations Group (SOG) of Rajasthan police had initially arrested the two men in July 2020, relying on three recorded phone conversations. Singh and Malani were charged with attempting to bribe independent legislators and a Congress MLA ahead of the Rajya Sabha election to destabilize the Gehlot government. The ACB later invoked the Prevention of Corruption Act.

The ACB report noted that the phone calls primarily discussed the internal power struggle between Chief Minister Gehlot and the then-Deputy Chief Minister Sachin Pilot, along with issues like the COVID-19 pandemic and China-Pakistan geopolitics.

The political turmoil in Rajasthan escalated in July 2020 when Pilot led a rebellion of 18 Congress MLAs against Gehlot. Pilot was subsequently removed from his positions as Deputy CM and Pradesh Congress president, accused of colluding with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to destabilize the state government.

While the SOG had initially requested a statement from Pilot, Gehlot accused the BJP of attempting to overthrow his government, similar to events in Madhya Pradesh and other states, by offering significant sums to legislators. The BJP has consistently denied these allegations. It went on to win the State elections in 2023.

The ACB also confirmed that financial records of Singh and Malani showed no suspicious transactions. They were released on bail in August 2020 after sedition charges were dropped.

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