Amar Singh, three BJP MPs discharged in cash-for-vote case in 2008

New Delhi, Nov 22: A Delhi court discharged Rajya Sabha member and former Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Amar Singh and three Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders involved in the cash-for-vote scam of 2008, on Friday.

The court held that three BJP MPs Faggan Singh Kulaste, Mahavir Bhagora and Ashok Argal had enacted a drama to expose horse-trading and leaders of the Congress and SP who were indulging in corrupt activity to lure vulnerable MPs of other parties, reported media.

The court took into account that the efforts to trace the money trail had failed and the principal offenders who attempt to bribe BJP MPs could not be brought before the court.

Special Judge Narottam Kaushal also discharged Sudheendra Kulkarni, close aide of BJP senior leader L.K. Advani, and BJP activist Sohail Hindustani.

It said that the facts that have emerged from the record do not create sufficient grounds for proceedings against Amar Singh, Kulkarni, Hindustani, Kulaste, Bhagora and Argal.

However, the court framed corruption charges against Sanjeev Saxena, Amar Singh's former aide saying that sufficient ground for presuming that Saxena has committed offence under Prevention of Corruption Act.

On July 22, 2008, BJP MPs Kulaste, Bhagora and 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.

With IANS inputs

OneIndia News