Amar not given clean chit: Deo

As the Delhi police tightens noose around Amar Singh's former aide Sanjeev Saxena in the 2008 cash-for-vote scam, chairman of the panel that probed the issue claimed the committee did not give any clean chit to Singh. Saubhadra Chatterji reports.

As the Delhi police tightens noose around Amar Singh's former aide Sanjeev Saxena in the 2008 cash-for-vote scam, chairman of the panel that probed the issue claimed the committee did not give any clean chit to Singh.

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V Kishore Chandra Deo, union minister for tribal affairs and panchayeti raj, said on Tuesday he was 'surprised' at the delay in arresting Saxena.

Deo maintained that the panel didn't summon Singh as there was no prima facie evidence against the then Rajya Sabha MP. "There was no direct evidence. So we didn't call him ... But I didn't give any clean chit to Singh. Rather, I asked for a detailed enquiry," Deo said.

A panel was formed to look into the allegations of the UPA buying votes during the 2008 trust vote after bundles of currency notes were produced by BJP members on the floor of the House.