From cash for votes to bundles of money in Parliament… the story of note scandal is old.

New Delhi: Such a shocking incident came to light in the winter session of Parliament on Friday which left everyone stunned. A bundle of Rs 500 notes was found during checking in Rajya Sabha on Friday. Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar informed this to the House. he/she told that after the adjournment of the House on Thursday, the regular investigation team was on routine checking in the House. During this time the team found a bundle of Rs 500 notes. This bundle of notes was received from seat number 222. This seat is allotted to Rajya Sabha MP Abhishek Manu Singhvi.

Bundle of notes found in Rajya Sabha

As soon as the matter of finding a bundle of notes under the seat of Rajya Sabha MP Abhishek Manu Singhvi came to light, a huge uproar started in the Upper House of the Parliament. According to the Chairman, till now no member has claimed these notes. An investigation has been ordered into the matter. It is not yet known whether these notes are real or fake. At present the matter is under investigation. However, this is not the first time that Parliament has become witness to a cash scandal. Even before this, cases of waving bundles of notes have come to light. Know what was the whole issue of cash for votes.

When bundles of notes were waved in the Lok Sabha

22 July 2008, this was the date when wads of currency notes were waved in the temple of democracy i.e. the Parliament of the country. At that time three BJP MPs entered the House with big bags. he/she kept one crore rupees from this bag in front of everyone in the House, which caused a political uproar. Three Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MPs Ashok Argal, Faggan Singh Kulaste and Mahavir Bhagaura had waved wads of currency notes in the Lok Sabha, alleging that an attempt was made to buy them. It was named the Cash for Vote scandal.
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What happened on 22 July 2008

The entire incident took place on July 22, 2008. At that time there was UPA-1 government at the centre. The Left parties had withdrawn support from the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government over the issue of the nuclear deal with the US. Due to this, the government had to seek a trust vote. When Lok Sabha proceedings began for the trust vote, the entire nation was stunned by the claims of three BJP MPs. The three MPs stood up with bundles of notes in their hands. he/she sensationally accused the government of buying MPs. he/she had bundles of notes worth Rs 1 crore in his/her hands.

What was the cash for vote scandal?

The three BJP MPs Ashok Argal, Mahavir Bhagaura and Faggan Singh Kulaste alleged that then SP general secretary Amar Singh and then Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s political secretary Ahmed Patel gave them money. Asked him/her not to take part in the trust vote. Now both are no more in this world. However, both the leaders had flatly rejected the allegations against the BJP MPs. Later, the then Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee lodged a complaint with Delhi Police and asked them to investigate it.

The investigation lasted three years, the main accused were acquitted

Delhi Police filed a charge sheet in August 2011 after three years of intensive investigation. The police had then named Sudheendra Kulkarni, a former aide of senior BJP leader Lal Krishna Advani, and SP general secretary Amar Singh as the masterminds of the case. BJP MPs were also investigated in the case and they were also made accused. Then a hearing was held in the Special Court and all the accused except Amar Singh’s former associate Sanjeev Saxena were acquitted.

The court ordered a case against Sanjeev Saxena under Section 12 of the Anti-Corruption Act. In its decision, the court said about Ashok Argal, Kulaste and Bhagora that just because they came in front of the cameras of the TV channel, it cannot be said that they were involved in illegal activities.

Know what the court said

The court said about Amar Singh that there was suspicion on him/her but the evidence could not be proved against him/her. At the same time, regarding the involvement of Sudhindra Kulkarni, the court said that he/she arranged for the MPs to meet the team of a news channel so that the horse trading of MPs could be exposed which is not illegal. The court made the same comment for Argal, Bhagaura and Kulaste also. At the same time, for another accused Sohail Hindustani, the court said that no evidence was found that he/she was involved in any illegal work.

There were suspicions but no evidence was found – Court

The court had said that laying traps to catch bribe takers is not a new thing. The only difference in this case is that here a trap was laid to catch the bribe givers and the bribe takers got trapped in this trap. Taking a sigh of relief on the court’s decision, Amar Singh said, ‘There is delay in God’s house, not darkness. Good and bad were identified. Got to know who is friend and who is enemy. At the same time, Sudhindra Kulkarni had said, ‘Truth has won. Whatever we did, we did to protect democracy. Let us hope that such incidents do not happen in Parliament in future.