New Delhi, May 2 (IANS) The Supreme Court Monday directed Delhi Police to file a status report on their investigation into the ‘cash for votes’ scam of 2008, when the Congress-led central government was accused of bribing MPs to win a trust vote in parliament.
The apex court bench of Justice Aftab Alam and Justice R.M. Lodha asked the Delhi Police commissioner to file the status report after senior counsel Rajiv Dhawan, appearing for petitioner J.M. Lyngdoh and others, told the court that ever since the first information report (FIR) was filed Jan 27, 2009, the investigation has not made any progress.
The apex court also issued notice to the central government.
The petitioners, who are former high ranking officials, including former chief election commissioner Lyngdoh, have come under the umbrella of India Rejuvenation Initative (IRI).
The petitioners are seeking a probe by an independent Special Investigation Team (SIT).
They have maintained that the current probe by Delhi Police is controlled by the central government.
The investigation was handed over to Delhi Police after a parliamentary committee investigating the case said that there was scope for ‘further probe’, especially on the money trail.
Opposition parties say the United Progressive Alliance-I (UPA) had bribed MPs to survive a trust vote after the Left withdrew support in the aftermath of the Indo-US nuclear deal in 2008.
Three Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) members Ashok Argal, Faggan Singh Kulaste and Mahavir Bhagora waved wads of cash on the floor of the house July 22, 2008, as ‘proof’ of the payoffs.
Senior counsel Rajiv Dhawan told the court that even though the case of ‘blatant bribery at the highest level has been highlighted’, Delhi Police were sitting over the investigation for almost three years.
The petition said that the incident showed the ‘desperate depths to which certain political functionaries and parties stooped to ensure victory on the floor of the house.’
Congress MP Kishore Chandra Deo, who headed the parliamentary probe committee, had said that the Enforcement Directorate and the Income-Tax Department could be asked to probe the money trail. The committee had said that the money displayed in the Lok Sabha could be traced to banks in Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka.
