By IANS,
New Delhi : Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader L.K. Advani’s former aide Sudheendra Kulkarni Tuesday appeared before a Delhi court, in response to a summons, for his alleged role in the 2008 cash-for-vote scam.
Kulkarni appeared before Special Judge Sangita Dhingra Sehgal after failing to do so Sep 6 and Sep 19 as he was in the US.
He has applied for an interim bail.
The court had Sep 19 warned Kulkarni’s counsel that if he failed to appear on the next date of hearing, the court would issue an arrest warrant against him.
“The charge against me is false and politically motivated. My role in the entire matter was that of a whistle blower,” Kulkarni told mediapersons outside the Tis Hazari court complex here.
“Along with my associates, three BJP MPs and Suhail Hindustani, I attempted to expose the purchase of MPs for securing victory in the confidence vote that the then government was seeking in the Lok Sabha,” Kulkarni said.
“I am not running away from anyone. I am ready to go to jail if exposing corruption is a crime,” he added.
The bail plea of Rajya Sabha member and former Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh is also slated for hearing in the court. Another co-accused, Sanjeev Saxena’s bail plea is also to be heard Tuesday.
On July 22, 2008, three BJP members of the Lok Sabha waved wads of currency notes inside the house ahead of the scheduled trust vote, alleging they were given the money to vote in favour of the Manmohan Singh government.