New Delhi, Aug 12: Suhail Hindustani, an accused in the 2008 cash-for-vote scam, has moved a bail application in a Delhi court claiming that it was top Congress and Samajwadi Party leaders who were involved in the alleged offence.
“The material available with the investigating agency clearly suggest and disclose the fact that persons who are members and associated with Samajwadi Party and ruling Congress Party, namely, Amar Singh, Revati Raman Singh and Ahmad Patel were behind the institution of alleged offence/crime,” Hindustani, in his application filed before Special Judge Sangita Dhingra Sehgal, said. The leaders, however, have already denied any involvement in the episode.
The court issued a notice to Crime Branch of Delhi police and sought its response on August 18. Hindustani, arrested on July 20, is in judicial custody.
“There are clinching evidence available with investigating agency which once again clearly establishes the fact that the money given by accused Sanjeev Saxena to original complainant was arranged/given by aforesaid persons (leaders) with the objective to save the then minority government of ruling party i.e Congress Party,” the application said.
Hindustani, an alleged BJP worker, sought bail on the ground of his non-involvement and rather went on to say: “the role of applicant herein, if any, is only to an extent to expose rampant corruption in Indian democratic system.” Hindustani alleged frame up and blamed police of ruining its own case by making him an accused instead of a witness.
“The applicant herein rather should have been arrayed as witness by the prosecution but instead of arraying him as a witness, he was made an accused by the investigating agency with the sole objective to destroy the case itself so that the truth should not come out,” he said.
Hindustani said there was neither any evidence nor allegation against him that he gave or accepted the bribe. Earlier, co-accused Sanjeev Saxena had also moved bail application accusing police of pressurizing him to sign a “pre-typed” statement having names of leaders of various political parties as kingpins.
A former aide of SP leader Shahid Siddiqqui, Saxena, who is in jail since July 17, had also alleged some BJP leaders conspired with BSP to bring down the then UPA Government. Saxena and Suhail Hindustani are in judicial custody till August 18 in the case.
Slammed by the Supreme Court for a shoddy probe into the scam, police had first arrested Saxena on July 17. Hindustani was arrested three days after.
The two have been booked for various offences under the Prevention of Corruption Act.
The case was registered in 2009 on recommendation by a Parliamentary panel which had probed the cash-for-vote scam dating back to July 2008.
On July 22, 2008, some BJP MPs had waved wads of currency notes on the floor of Lok Sabha during the trust vote faced by the UPA-I government, claiming they were given money to vote in favour of the Manmohan Singh government. PTI
