Cash-for-votes: Samajwadi Party leader summoned (Lead)

October 18th, 2011 - 8:26 pm ICT by IANS  

Bharatiya Janata Party New Delhi, Oct 18 (IANS) Rejecting a police clean chit, a Delhi court has issued summons against Samajwadi Party leader Rewati Raman Singh for Nov 3 over his alleged role in the 2008 cash-for-votes scam that rocked parliament ahead of a trust vote.

Special Judge Sangita Dhingra Sehgal summoned him citing sufficient evidence against him.

“There was sufficient material to show that Rewati Raman Singh was prima facie part and parcel and an important link in the chain of events of the alleged criminal conspiracy,” the court said in an order made available Tuesday.

The court orders came despite Delhi Police giving a clean chit to the leader. Police Oct 14 told the court that there was no evidence to show that he was involved in the scam.

On July 22, 2008, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MPs Faggan Singh Kulaste, Mahavir Bhagora and Ashok Argal waved wads of currency notes in the Lok Sabha ahead of a trust vote, alleging they were given the money to vote in favour of the Manmohan Singh government.

Taking a note of the statements of the three BJP leaders, the trial court took cognisance of the offence against Rewati Raman Singh under penal provisions for criminal conspiracy.

“Material placed on record and the signed statements of three MPs are sufficient to show Rewati Raman Singh was the person who led the three MPs and arranged a meeting with Amar Singh promising that their interest would be taken care of,” the court said.

After a Supreme Court rap for shoddy probe, Delhi Police July 17 made their first arrest in the case, taking former Samajwadi Party leader and Rajya Sabha MP Amar Singh’s secretary Sanjeev Saxena into custody. Amar Singh has also been arrested in the case.

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