Undeterred by the defamation notice served on him by Shanti Bhushan, Congress general secretary in charge of Uttar Pradesh Digvijay Singh told the noted lawyer on Thursday that he would not be cowed down by such threats. Though he had not received the notice, he would give a reply in court, the former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister said.
Mr. Singh said his statement on the alleged stamp duty evasion by Mr. Bhushan in connection with a property in the Civil Lines area of Allahabad was based on media reports. “If a defamation notice is to be served, then it would have to be on the official who sent the duty evasion notice or the Mayawati government.”
‘Doubts bound to arise'
Mr. Singh said doubts were bound to arise if a 7,500-square metre property in the prime Civil Lines area of Allahabad cost only Rs. 1 lakh. It was strange that no corruption was seen by the father and son duo of Shanti Bhushan and Prashant Bhushan when properties in Noida were being sold by the Mayawati government by extracting a price of Rs. 5,000 per square metre.
“The people expect Mr. Bhushan to make his assets public,” Mr. Singh told reporters at the Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee headquarters here on Thursday. On whether Mr. Bhushan should remain a member of the Lokpal Bill drafting committee, Mr. Singh said it should be left to his conscience. The AICC general secretary was of the opinion that corruption could not be tackled by the Lokpal Bill alone. Prompt decision had to be taken on the cases against Ms. Mayawati and Mulayam Singh. In addition, discretionary powers had to be reduced and norms simplified so that there was no scope for corruption, he said.
On the campaign against corruption launched by Anna Hazare, Mr. Singh sought to clarify his position in the light of Mr. Hazare's letter to Congress president and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi alleging a smear campaign against members of the drafting committee. Mr. Singh said Ms. Gandhi supported Mr. Hazare's campaign and it was she who had directed the Central government to initiate discussions with members of civil society.
Hazare invited to U.P.
In fact, Mr. Singh invited Mr. Hazare to Uttar Pradesh for leading a “satyagraha” against allegedly corrupt Ministers on the lines of his campaign against tainted Ministers in Maharashtra. “The Congress will support Mr. Hazare on this count and will make all the documents available to him.” The UPA government had always taken a firm line on corruption, the Congress general secretary said.
Mr. Singh alleged that officials in Uttar Pradesh were being pressured and corruption was at its peak. He said no action was taken against the persons involved in the murder of Chief Medical Officers Vinod Arya and B.P. Singh, and no efforts were made to find out the reasons for the alleged suicide by an IAS officer Harminder Raj Singh. Mr. Singh said the Congress would file a public interest litigation petition demanding a CBI probe into these cases.
