Court rejects Amar's bail, says role 'major'

A Delhi court on Wednesday denied bail to Rajya Sabha MP Amar Singh saying his role was "major" in the entire 2008 cash-for-vote scam and it aimed at "disgracing" parliamentary democracy. HT reports.

A Delhi court on Wednesday denied bail to Rajya Sabha MP Amar Singh saying his role was "major" in the entire 2008 cash-for-vote scam and it aimed at "disgracing" parliamentary democracy.

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Special Judge Sangita Dhingra Sehgal said the incident showed that Singh and other political functionaries, including arrested BJP leaders, in the case "stooped to a level beyond imagination".

Singh now faces immediate arrest upon his discharge from AIIMS.

Declining to be moved by Singh's counsel citing his poor health, the judge said, "From the material on record, it appears prima facie that there are fingers which point that the accused (Singh) played a major role in the entire episode which came to light on July 22, 2008, during the debate on the motion of confidence in the Lok Sabha."

Including Singh, now there are five accused arrested in the scam: Singh's former aide Sanjeev Saxena, former BJP activist Suhail Hindustani, former BJP MPs Faggan Singh Kulaste and Mahabir Singh Bhagora and senior BJP leader LK Advani's former aide Sudheendra Kulkarni.

The judge added, "The accused has been named in an incident which showed desperate depths to which certain political functionaries and parties stooped. It represents a gross moral degeneration which disgraced the sacrosanct parliamentary democracy,"

The court, in its 17-page order, said the present case has "far-reaching consequences" as it was an attempt to subvert the functioning of Parliament.