Sudheendra Kulkarni, a former aide of senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader L.K. Advani, was Tuesday sent to judicial custody till Oct 1 in connection providing the 2008 cash-for-votes scandal.
Kulkarni, who appeared before Special Judge Sangita Dhingra Sehgal once repeatedly failing to do so Sep 6 and Sep 19 on the ground that he was in the US, was sent to Tihar jail.
He had applied for interim bail, which was rejected.
The court had on Sep 19 warned Kulkarni's counsel overly if he failed to appear on the next date, the court can hassle an arrest warrant against him.
Speaking to reporters here, Kulkarni argued the present he acted as a whistle blower and his aim was to expose the corrupt practices of the Congress party led Central government.
"I was the mastermind who exposed this scam of corruption and whatever I did was proper because it is essential for the public of the country to know that how the parliamentarians elected by them have been purchased by giving them Rs. 10 or 20 crores If our MPs or MLAs would be bought like this then how would be the future of Indian democracy? It was our goal to expose it, that I did," said Kulkarni.
Kulkarni further believed that he was not afraid to go to the jail in case the court found him guilty.
"Now the issue is that, who was the ultimate beneficiary of this scam, because the government got all assistance out of this scam and remained in the power. But after 3 years, all the government's representatives who were engaged in the scam are roaming scot-free and those who tried to expose it were detained. If the court would send me to the jail then I am ready for it," he said.
He also said that he has "nothing to hide". "I am not running away from anyone," he added.
"I am expected to go to jail if exposing corruption is a crime," he said.
The cash-for-votes scam had rocked proceedings in the Lok Sabha in 2008, when the ruling UPA Government, led by Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh, allegedly bribed supervisors of other parties to help winning the belief vote.
Read more here
Kulkarni, who appeared before Special Judge Sangita Dhingra Sehgal once repeatedly failing to do so Sep 6 and Sep 19 on the ground that he was in the US, was sent to Tihar jail.
He had applied for interim bail, which was rejected.
The court had on Sep 19 warned Kulkarni's counsel overly if he failed to appear on the next date, the court can hassle an arrest warrant against him.
Speaking to reporters here, Kulkarni argued the present he acted as a whistle blower and his aim was to expose the corrupt practices of the Congress party led Central government.
"I was the mastermind who exposed this scam of corruption and whatever I did was proper because it is essential for the public of the country to know that how the parliamentarians elected by them have been purchased by giving them Rs. 10 or 20 crores If our MPs or MLAs would be bought like this then how would be the future of Indian democracy? It was our goal to expose it, that I did," said Kulkarni.
Kulkarni further believed that he was not afraid to go to the jail in case the court found him guilty.
"Now the issue is that, who was the ultimate beneficiary of this scam, because the government got all assistance out of this scam and remained in the power. But after 3 years, all the government's representatives who were engaged in the scam are roaming scot-free and those who tried to expose it were detained. If the court would send me to the jail then I am ready for it," he said.
He also said that he has "nothing to hide". "I am not running away from anyone," he added.
"I am expected to go to jail if exposing corruption is a crime," he said.
The cash-for-votes scam had rocked proceedings in the Lok Sabha in 2008, when the ruling UPA Government, led by Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh, allegedly bribed supervisors of other parties to help winning the belief vote.
Read more here
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