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New Delhi, Sep 6 (IANS) Rajya Sabha member and former Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh and two former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MPs were Tuesday arrested and sent to judicial custody for alleged involvement in the attempt to bribe MPs ahead of the July 2008 trust vote in parliament.
They have been booked under section 120 (B) of the Indian Penal Code (criminal conspiracy) and section 12 of the Prevention of Corruption Act.
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Special Judge Sangita Dhingra Sehgal sent Amar Singh as well as Fagan Singh Kulaste and Mahavir Singh Bhagora to judicial custody till Sep 19.
Amar Singh, wearing a cream kurta pyjama, looked shocked when he heard the verdict.
He was soon whisked away by policemen.
Dismissing their interim bail plea, the judge said: "The application is at prerequisite stage to decide. Therefore, let the prosecution file the replies."
The judge also observed that grounds for interim bail are similar to that of regular bail.
"Amar Singh has committed offence under section 12 of the Prevention of Corruption Act read with section 120 B (conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code for which the chargesheet is being submitted against him," police said.
On Aug 24, Delhi Police had filed a chargesheet in the court against six people, including Amar Singh.
The 80-page chargesheet alleged that during investigation sufficient evidence had come on record that on the morning of July 22, 2008, Amar Singh hatched a criminal conspiracy with his secretary Sanjeev Saxena to deliver cash of Rs.1 crore as illegal gratification to bribe MPs ahead of the vote.
Police alleged that Amar Singh "conspired" with Saxena and others to bribe the then MPs and Sudheendra Kulkarni, a former associate of BJP leader L.K. Advani, played an "active role" during the trust motion.
The chargesheet also named Kulaste and Bhagora, arrested middleman Suhail Hindustani, Kulkarni and sitting BJP MP Ashok Argal.
There are 54 witnesses in this case, including CNN-IBN chief Rajdeep Sardesai.
The chargesheet said the mastermind of the scandal was Kulkarni.
Saxena was arrested July 17. He was accused of keeping the probe agency in the dark about the whole episode of which he had full knowledge.
"And in the furtherance of this criminal conspiracy, Saxena, along with another person in a yellow shirt, delivered Rs.1 crore cash at 4, Ferozeshah Road at about 11 a.m. to the three BJP MPs -- Argal, Kulaste and Bhagora as advance out of a total deal of Rs.9 crore as Rs.3 crore (were to be paid) to each MP to abstain from voting during the motion of confidence," said the chargesheet.
On July 22, 2008, three BJP MPs 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.
The trust vote was necessitated after the Left parties withdrew support to the government over the India-US civilian nuclear agreement.
Ahead of the trust vote, Saxena was reportedly introduced to Ashok Argal, Kulaste and Bhagora as a secretary of Amar Singh. He was caught on camera paying them money.
Police secured permission from Rajya Sabha Chairman Hamid Ansari before chargesheeting Amar Singh, while a letter has been sent to Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar seeking permission to charge Argal.
Slammed by the Supreme Court for a shoddy probe into the scandal, police made the first arrest in the case - that of Saxena - July 17.
The case was registered in 2009 on the recommendation of a parliamentary panel which probed the scandal.
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