Cash-for-votes scam: Amar Singh, three others summoned

A court in Delhi on Thursday issued summons to four people, including Rajya Sabha member and former Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh to appear September 6, in the cash-for-votes scandal that rocked parliament during a trust vote in 2008.

Special judge Sangita Dhingra Sehgal issued the summons against Amar singh, former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MPs Fagan Singh Kulaste and Mahavir Bhagora and Sudheendra Kulkarni, a former associate of BJP leader LK Advani.

“All the four accused are summoned to face trial on September 6 at 10 am,” the judge said, accepting a Delhi Police plea.

Amar Singh's former aide Sanjeev Saxena and middleman Suhail Hindustani are already in judicial custody in the case.

On July 22, 2008, three BJP MPs waved wads of currency notes in the Lok Sabha ahead of a trust vote, alleging they were given the money to vote in favour of the Manmohan Singh government.

Police secured permission from Rajya Sabha chairman Hamid Ansari before chargesheeting Amar Singh, while a letter has been sent to Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar seeking permission to charge BJP MP Ashok Argal, police said.

The case was registered in 2009 on the recommendation of a parliamentary panel which probed the scandal.

The trust vote was necessitated after the Left parties withdrew support to the government over the India-US civilian nuclear agreement.