In the supplementary charge sheet on the cash-for-vote scandal filed in a special court here on Friday, the Delhi Police Crime Branch revealed that it continued to be clueless about the money trail. The Crime Branch said despite efforts, it found no “abnormal withdrawal” from the bank accounts of accused Rajya Sabha member Amar Singh.
Five of his bank accounts, three of them in branches in Delhi and two in the Royal Bank of Scotland were analysed, but the charge sheet concluded: “There is no abnormal withdrawal from these accounts of accused Amar Singh. Detailed efforts have been made to link the money trail but there is no system in the banks to record the number of the currency notes at the time of payment to the customers.”
An allegation raised by Mr. Singh's former secretary Sanjeev Saxena in his bail application that he was handed over Rs.1 crore in cash by Shyam Jaju, in-charge of the BJP office, was also probed but no evidence could be found regarding delivery of bribe money from Mr. Jaju to Mr. Saxena. During investigation, Mr. Jaju stated that he had never met Mr. Saxena or handed over any money to him.
The Crime Branch also quizzed a number of bank officials to ascertain the money trail but no leads could be gathered.
Meanwhile, arguing on the bail application moved by the former BJP Lok Sabha MPs, Faggan Singh Kulaste and Mahabir Singh Bhagora, senior advocate Siddharth Luthra said the private news channel which collaborated with the MPs in “exposing” the scam had not been made an accused.
“People who collaborated with us are made witnesses against us. Our desire was only to act as a bait,” Mr. Luthra said.
Counsel also alleged that the tape of the sting operation was not continuous and was probably digitally edited. “The paramount evidence in the case is the tape. But witness Siddharth Gautam's statement that he had interviewed MPs with the money laid out on a table followed by his recording of a piece-to-camera (P2C) in Hindi and English are absent in the tape. Do they have original tapes and have they submitted this in court? If not, this case falls,” Mr. Luthra argued.
Meanwhile, Mr. Amar Singh moved an application in court requesting that an attendant be allowed to take care of him on a rotational basis in hospital, when his wife was absent. Mr. Singh is presently in judicial custody at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences.
