Former Samajwadi Party General Secretary, Amar Singh chargesheeted for Cash-for-vote

The former Samajwadi Party general secretary, Amar Singh was chargesheeted on 24 August 2011 for allegedly bribing MPs for their votes during the confidence motion in the Lok Sabha over the India-U.S. nuclear deal in 2008. BJP leader L.K. Advani's former aide, Sudheendra Kulkarni, two former BJP MPs were also chargesheeted.

The charge sheet submitted by the Delhi Police Crime Branch alleged that Kulkarni was the brain behind the conspiracy to conduct the sting operation showing that the MPs had been approached and bribed to vote in favour of the trust motion. He remained in touch with the other conspirators when bribes were paid to the former BJP MPs- Phagan Singh Kuleste and Mahaveer Singh Bhagoda, and the incumbent MP Ashok Argal. The police sought sanction for prosecution from the Lok Sabha Speaker to initiate proceedings against Argal for having received bribe.

According to the charge sheet filed in the court of Special Judge Sangita Dhingra Sehgal, accused Sanjeev Saxena, former secretary to Amar Singh, and Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha activist Suhail Hindustani were also part of the conspiracy.

At Amar Singh's behest, Saxena bribed three BJP MPs. Suhail acted as a facilitator during the entire exercise that was videographed clandestinely by a television news channel as part of a sting operation masterminded by Kulkarni.

The police have submitted 1,600 pages of judicial papers and a 400-page file comprising details of the evidence that includes untampered sting operation tapes showing money exchanging hands. The mediapersons who carried out the operation were made witnesses in the case.