Sudheendra Kulkarni, former aide of BJP leader L.K. Advani, was on Tuesday arrested and sent to the Tihar Central Jail in judicial custody by a special court in the cash-for-vote case. It rejected his interim bail plea.
The court also deferred to Wednesday the passing of an order on the former Samajwadi Party general secretary, Amar Singh's regular bail application and extended his interim bail on medical grounds by a day.
Mr. Kulkarni appeared in the court for the first time after the charge sheet was filed. He had sought exemption from personal appearance twice, saying he was in the U.S. to help secure his daughter's admission in a university. The court had given an ultimatum to him to appear before it on Tuesday. Special Judge Sangita Dhingra Sehgal will hear his regular bail application on October 1.
Mr. Kulkarni said he was a “whistleblower.” He criticised the Delhi Police Crime Branch's claim that he was the “mastermind” of the operation. “If my purpose was to receive illegal gratification, I would have pocketed the money. The deal was not for the Rs.1 crore that the three BJP MPs displayed on the floor of Parliament but for Rs. 9 crore. I would want to pocket the rest of the money and be quiet about it. I was a whistleblower and my purpose was to expose the horse trading in the Lok Sabha.”
Interestingly, the judge was also critical of the Crime Branch investigation in the case when Public Prosecutor Rajiv Mohan opposed Mr. Kulkarni's bail plea. “They did not do their job. Instead, they are leaving it to the court. They had no justification in arresting one or two persons and leaving out the rest of the accused. They cannot pick and choose,” Ms. Sehgal remarked.
At this, Mr. Kulkarni's counsel said: “They have not even investigated the source and the purpose of the money that was passed on.”
Meanwhile, arguments on Mr. Amar Singh's regular bail application saw heated arguments between the prosecution and defence. Arguing for Mr. Singh's bail, counsel Hariharan said that as per a medical report received from the AIIMS on Monday, his client was still not well and his vital parameters were above the normal limit. “I have amply demonstrated before the court that I am a sick and infirm person and the court could grant me bail on this ground alone according to the provisions of Section 437 of the Criminal Procedure Code,” Mr. Hariharan said on behalf of Mr. Singh.
Counsel said the treatment at the AIIMS was not adequate and that ideally Mr. Singh should get treatment at the hospital where he did his kidney transplant as only that hospital could control his parameters and keep him stable.
When the judge asked for the list of hospitals that could provide excellent treatment to Mr. Singh, he listed four hospitals, none of which were based in Delhi. The four hospitals were: Mount Elizabeth Hospital, Singapore; Kokilaben Hospital, Mumbai; Belle Vue Clinic, Kolkata; and a hospital in Karnataka.
Counsel termed the AIIMS a general hospital. “The level of cleanliness and hygiene which are most crucial to me are stringent in these hospitals, but not so in a general hospital,” he said.
An application for Mr. Singh to travel abroad for treatment was also moved on Tuesday.
