Shanti Bhushan CD row: Court pulls up police for laxity
December 13th, 2011 - 10:19 pm ICT by IANS
New Delhi, Dec 13 (IANS) A court here Tuesday pulled up the Delhi Police for not recording the statements of Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav and Rajya Sabha member Amar Singh to verify the contents of a controversial CD purportedly containing their conversation with lawyer and Team Anna member Shanti Bhushan.
During the conversation, Shanti Bhushan allegedly promised Mulayam Singh that a judge could be influenced for a price and suggested that his son and lawyer Prashant Bhushan would facilitate this.
The CD appeared after Anna Hazare ended his anti-graft fast here in April and Shanti Bhushan was appointed co-chair of the Lokpal bill joint drafting committee.
Allowing Shanti Bhushan’a plea, Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Vinod Yadav said: “You (police) interrogate him (Amar Singh) for the 2008 cash-for-votes case. And during that you ask him informally if he had spoken to Shanti Bhushan, to which he tells you that Shanti Bhushan had come to his place and had spoken to Mulayam Singh on phone from there. And you are satisfied with this.”
“You feel no need whatsoever of recording his statement formally. How will you prove all this unless you record his statement? The investigation is neither here nor there. You can claim anything but who will prove it,” the court asked police.
The court pulled up police after counsel for Shanti Bhushan, Ajit Singh contended that police should have recorded the statements of Amar Singh and Mulayam Singh Yadav to prove its claim that Amar Singh had confirmed the part of conversation between him (Bhushan) and Yadav.
Police in August sought the court’s permission to close the probe into Bhushan’s complaint alleging that the CD was doctored and seeking a probe into its authenticity.
The police sought the closure saying there was no substantive evidence to prove the offence of forgery (doctoring of the controversial CD), as alleged.
Bhushan’s counsel also submitted reports from two forensic laboratories - Hyderabad’s Truth Lab and the other from a US lab - opining that the CD was doctored and sought further investigation.
The court directed police to file a status report by Jan 6 next year.
- Shanti Bhushan CD row: Court order reserved for Wednesday - Jan 24, 2012
- Probe Shanti Bhushan CD case properly, court tells police (Second Lead) - Jan 25, 2012
- Probe Shanti Bhushan CD case properly, court tells police (Lead) - Jan 25, 2012
- CD row: Prashant Bhushan files defamation suit in Supreme Court - Apr 18, 2011
- Amar Singh dares Bhushans over controversial CD - Apr 18, 2011
- Shanti Bhushan-Amar Singh CD not doctored: Police - Aug 30, 2011
- CD controversy rages, Bhushans to move apex court (Roundup) - Apr 18, 2011
- Court doesn't accept closure report in Shanti Bhushan CD row - Jan 25, 2012
- CD row: Many in Hazare's team are tainted, says Amar Singh - Apr 18, 2011
- CD on Lokpal Bill co-chair bogus: Hazare - Apr 17, 2011
- Amar Singh denies doctoring CD - Apr 18, 2011
- CD case: Police to take voice samples of Mulayam, Amar, Bhushan - Jun 01, 2012
- Bhushan's CD may not be tampered with, says Delhi Police - Apr 21, 2011
- Hazare defends Shanti Bhushan, says CD is bogus - Apr 17, 2011
- Amar Singh hits out at Bhushans - Apr 20, 2011
Tags: ajit singh, anna hazare, anti graft, authenticity, bhushan, closure, co chair, delhi police, drafting committee, forgery, lawyer, magistrate, New Delhi, offence, party chief, plea, rajya sabha member, shanti, yadav