By IANS,
New Delhi: From rubbing shoulders with the high and mighty to a cell in Tihar jail. Rajya Sabha member and former Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh Tuesday became the latest high-profile politician to be sent to Tihar Jail after he alongwith two former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MPs was arrested for alleged involvement in the attempt to bribe MPs ahead of the July 2008 parliament trust vote.
However, the 55-year-old wily politician, who has rubbed shoulders with India’s top corporate honchos to Bollywood stars, tried his best to avoid arrest – citing on health grounds.
But Special Judge Sangita Dhingra Sehgal was unmoved.
She sent him and Fagan Singh Kulaste and Mahavir Singh Bhagora to judicial custody till Sep 19.
The three have been booked under section 120 (B) of the Indian Penal Code (criminal conspiracy) and section 12 of the Prevention of Corruption Act.
Sitting BJP MP Ashok Argal, who was also chargesheeted by the CBI, was not arrested. The police have sought permission from Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar to arrest him.
High drama preceded Amar Singh’s arrest.
Just as his lawyer informed the court that Singh was bed-ridden and would not be able to come to the court – despite a warning by the judge, Amar Singh, wearing a cream coloured kurta pyjama appeared made his entrance, taking everyone – the scores of mediapersons and court officials, by surprise.
“I have great faith in the judiciary. I came here against medical advice. At home, I saw news channels and was disturbed that they said I’m hiding,” he told the stunned court.
After the lunch break, when judge Sehgal announced her verdict, it was Amar Singh’s turn to be surprised. The judge had to read her three-page note thrice to a stunned Singh.
When the judge directed the police to take Singh into custody, the politician argued: “You please take advice of anybody, if a person who has undergone kidney transplantation is fit enough to be sent to judicial custody or be forced to live in such a hazardous place.”
But, the unmoved judge said : “The order has already been passed. We will look into it on the next date.”
He was then whisked away by policemen to Tihar Jail in west Delhi, where former communications minister A. Raja, former Commonwealth Games Organising Committee chief Suresh Kalmadi and DMK MP Kanimozhi are lodged, besides a host of corporate bigwigs.
He has been lodged in jail number three of Tihar which is near the jail hospital. “A thorough medical check-up was undertaken before he entered into his ward,” Sunil Gupta, spokesman and law officer of Tihar jail, told IANS.
His interim bail plea will be heard Thursday.
On Aug 24, Delhi Police had filed a chargesheet in the court against six people – Amar Singh, Kulaste, Bhagora, Argal, arrested middleman Suhail Hindustani and Sudheendra Kulkarni, a former associate of BJP leader L.K. Advani.
Police alleged that Kulkarni played an “active role” during the trust motion.
During the course of arguments, counsel for Kulkarni informed the court that his client was in the US before the Delhi Police filed the chargesheet. His counsel sought two weeks time from the court to bring his client before the court.
Kulkarni needs to appear on Sep 19, the judge said.
The 80-page chargesheet alleged that during investigation sufficient evidence had come on record that on the morning of July 22, 2008, Amar Singh hatched a criminal conspiracy with his secretary Sanjeev Saxena to deliver cash of Rs.1 crore as illegal gratification.
On that day, the three BJP MPs waved wads of currency notes in the Lok Sabha, alleging they were given the money to vote in favour of the Manmohan Singh government in the trust vote.
There are 54 witnesses in this case, including CNN-IBN chief Rajdeep Sardesai.
Slammed by the Supreme Court for shoddy probe in the case, the police made their first arrest in the case – of Saxena – July 17. The case was registered in 2009 on the recommendation of a parliamentary panel that probed the scandal.