Decision Change on CBI investigation

On 25 Mar 2017: 

Newly elected Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat in a press conference announced decision to handover investigation from SIT to CBI into a major scam in land acquisition where lands had been classified as non agricultural land to increase compensation by 20 times to beneficiariess.

On 25 May 2017: 

The same Chief Minister has announced that his government would now seek legal opinion on the scope of such a probe.

What caused this change in heart? Did the Chief Minister forget something in March and realize in May? 

Trivendra Singh explains - The NHAI chief, however, explained to me that the Authority’s role in land acquisition is only as a fund-disbursing agency. So, we will seek legal opinion — from the attorney general, if necessary — on the scope of the CBI probe,” said Rawat.

During the intervening period an important event that has happened is
On April 5: Union Minister of Road Transport & Highways and Shipping Nitin Gadkari had warned in a letter to the newly elected Chief Minister that a CBI probe into the alleged scam “would have an adverse impact on the morale of the officers” and the ministry “would have to re-examine the usefulness for taking up more projects in the state”.

Gadkari wrote in the letter that he was “greatly concerned about recent developments in the state”.

“Firstly, an FIR was launched by the district administration of Udham Singh Nagar in the matter of awards finalised by CALA (SLAO), who is a revenue functionary of the state government. Not only that, a CBI inquiry has also been ordered by the government of Uttarakhand on the mater in which the NHAI officers are being investigated,” Gadkari wrote.

The Union Minister underlined in the letter that these “actions by the government of Uttarakhand are bound to have adverse impact on the morale of the officers and would impede implementation of projects”.

Concluding the letter with a veiled warning, Gadkari wrote: “In this background, we would have to re-examine the usefulness for taking up more projects in the state. I am certain you will appreciate the significance of the issues that I have pointed out and take immediate corrective measures to resolve the impasse.”

Gadkari did not respond to queries from The Indian Express on whether his letter amounted to arm-twisting the state government.

Sources in Gadkari’s office said that the Minister “had to make the point since NHAI top brass had informed him that key officials had left the state after being summoned repeatedly by state police and project work was being affected”.

Looking at the data it seems
1. Either CM was not aware of consequences at the time in March of handing over SIT investigation to CBI
2. NHAI seems to have overruled state government by getting CM to backtrack on swift CBI enquiry. And now government is looking to put the CBI investigation on back burner by calling it seeking legal opinion.

One thing is for sure, the decision to proceed with CBI enquiry made in the excitement seems to have lost its importance now. 

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Source: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/uttarakhand-govt-unearths-land-acquisition-scam-writes-for-cbi-probe/articleshow/57832055.cms

http://indianexpress.com/article/india/nh-74-land-acquisition-nitin-gadkari-warns-uttarakhand-govt-against-cbi-probe-into-road-projects-4674098/