The Delhi High Court Wednesday granted bail to Sudheendra Kulkarni, ex-advisor to former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, and five others accused in the 2008 cash-for-votes scam that had rocked parliament ahead of a trust vote.
Justice M.L. Mehta said: “All the petitioners are admitted on bail on furnishing of personal and surety bond of Rs.2 lakh each.”
The court granted bail to Kulkarni, former Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) MPs Faggan Singh Kulaste and Mahabir Singh Bhagora, Rajya Sabha MP Amar Singh’s former aide Sanjeev Saxena and alleged political activist Suhail Hindustani.
It directed all the petitioners to cooperate in the investigation if required by the Delhi Police.
Saxena is accused of delivering Rs.1 crore to then BJP MPs and co-accused Ashok Argal, who continues to be an MP, Kulaste and Bhagora under a conspiracy to buy their votes for the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government in the July 2008 trust motion.
The court also granted anticipatory bail to Argal and directed him to appear before the concerned court during the hearing of the case. The Delhi Police have received Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar’s nod to proceed against Argal.
On July 22, 2008, Argal, Kulaste and Bhagora waved wads of currency notes in the Lok Sabha just hours ahead of a trust vote, alleging they were given the money to vote in favour of the Manmohan Singh government.
