Meira Kumar sanctions prosecution of BJP MP Ashok Argal (Lead)
September 30th, 2011 - 10:33 pm ICT by IANS
New Delhi, Sep 30 (IANS) Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar has given permission for prosecuting Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Ashok Argal in the 2008 cash-for-votes scam, a police officer said Friday. The BJP termed the move politically motivated.
“We have got permission from the concerned authority for prosecution (of Argal). Now, a chargesheet will be filed,” Deputy Commissioner of Police Ashok Chand, told IANS.
Six people, including, former Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh and Sudheendra Kulkarni, former aide of senior BJP leader L.K. Advani, have been arrested in the case. Action against Argal was pending for lack of permission from the Speaker.
While filing supplementary chargesheet at the city court earlier in the day, police said that the probe is not yet complete as it is still waiting for permission from the speaker to prosecute Argal, a co-accused in the case.
The chargesheet was filed before special judge Sangita Dhingra Sehgal.
Meanwhile, Argal, MP from Bhind in Madhya Pradesh, told reporters over phone that he has yet to receive any communication regarding the speaker’s decision.
Sharply reacting to the decision, BJP spokesperson Prakash Javadekar told reporters here that the prosecution move was politically motivated. “Argal is innocent,” he added.
The police said in the chargesheet: “We are still continuing to trace the money trail and the source through which it came.”
The Supreme Court had earlier this month asked the police to find the “source of bribe money”.
Argal was one of the three BJP MPs who had waved wads of currency notes in the Lok Sabha during a trust vote in July 22, 2008 caused by the withdrawal of Left support to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s government over the India-US civil nuclear deal.
The other two - Faggan Singh Kulaste and Mahavir Singh Bhagora - are no longer MPs and are in jail.
A case was registered in 2009 on the recommendation of a parliamentary panel that probed the issue.
- Cash-for-votes: BJP MP booked; bail pleas of three put off - Oct 03, 2011
- Cash-for-votes: Police file supplementary chargesheet - Sep 30, 2011
- Cash-for-votes: BJP MP exempted from attending trial court (Second Lead) - Nov 01, 2011
- Working on cash-for-votes money trail, cops tell court - May 10, 2012
- Cash-for-votes scam: Bail pleas of Kulkarni, two others, to be heard Oct 13 - Oct 07, 2011
- Cash-for-votes: Order on bail plea of five accused Nov 16 (Lead) - Nov 14, 2011
- Cash-for-votes case: Amar Singh, five others chargesheeted - Aug 24, 2011
- Court pulls up cash-for-vote accused for wearing sunglasses - May 28, 2012
- Cash-for-votes: Summons for Samajwadi Party MP quashed - Dec 15, 2011
- Cash-for-vote: Cops furnish CD transcripts to accused - May 26, 2012
- 'Very critical' Amar Singh gets bail - Oct 24, 2011
- Gadkari meets jailed party colleagues in Tihar - Oct 31, 2011
- Cash-for-vote case: Police file another charge sheet - Apr 30, 2012
- Advani, Jaitley meet Kulkarni, ex-MPs in Tihar - Sep 28, 2011
- Cash-for-votes: Bail for Kulkarni, five others (Second Lead) - Nov 16, 2011
Tags: argal, bjp leader, bribe money, commissioner of police, currency notes, janata party, l k advani, Lok Sabha, mahavir, manmohan singh, meira kumar, money trail, nuclear deal, parliamentary panel, prime minister manmohan, prime minister manmohan singh, Samajwadi Party, sehgal, special judge, trust vote