NEW DELHI, July 28: A Delhi court today reserved for August 4 its order on a plea challenging a magisterial court’s verdict dismissing a criminal complaint against Rajya Sabha MP Amar Singh and two others for allegedly kidnapping a key witness of the 2008 cash-for-vote case.
Additional Sessions Judge Raj Kapoor reserved the order after hearing arguments advanced by the counsel of complainant Hashmat Ali, who was a key witness in the cash-for-vote scam case, and the advocate appearing for Amar Singh and others.
Amar Singh and his secretary Tarun appeared in the court today while the third person Ramesh, who has also been named in the petition, was absent as the summons issued against him were not served.
During the hearing, the counsel appearing for Ali alleged that his client was kidnapped by Tarun and Ramesh from Khan Market here on September 25, 2008 when he was to depose before a parliamentary inquiry committee probing the cash-for-vote case.
He claimed that after kidnapping Ali, Tarun and Ramesh had taken him to Singh’s residence from where he was handed over to the police.
Ali’s lawyer argued that the magistrate had dismissed his criminal complaint against Singh and two others saying there were no independent witnesses to corroborate the allegations.
“The (alleged) offence was not committed before any independent witnesses. Where was the questions of examining any independent witnesses?,” he said.
Countering his arguments, senior advocate N Hariharan and advocate S P M Tripathi, who appeared for Singh and others, said that the magistrate’s order was based not only on the testimony of Ali but also on the inquiry conducted under provisions of CrPC.
Hariharan also said that even the police, in its action taken report, had earlier said that there was no evidence to corroborate the allegations levelled by Ali.
The court, after hearing the arguments, reserved its order for August 4 on the revision petition filed by Ali challenging the magisterial court’s order passed in January this year.
The magistrate had earlier dismissed Ali’s complaint, two months after the former Samajwadi Party leader was given a clean chit by a court here in the cash-for-vote case in which he was accused of “conspiring” and “masterminding” attempts to bribe some MPs ahead of a confidence vote in Lok Sabha on July 22, 2008.
The magisterial court had dismissed the complaint filed by Ali saying his testimony was “unbelievable” as it was not corroborated by any independent witnesses.
Amar Singh, who was arrayed as one of the accused in the cash-for-vote case, was discharged by a court here on November 22 last year along with senior BJP leader L K Advani’s ex-aide Sudheendra Kulkarni and others in the case.
During the adjudication of the complaint case, Ali had alleged before the magisterial court that he was abducted by Tarun and Ramesh and Amar Singh had abused and threatened him. (PTI)
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