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Rao silent; Ajit Singh, Satish Sharma 'vindicated'

P V Narasimha Rao refused to comment on the Central Bureau of Investigation special court's judgement convicting him and Buta Singh in the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha bribery case on Friday.

Congress leader and former Union minister Buta Singh, who was also convicted, said, "Whatever I did was for the party. I will see the order first before making an appeal to the high court.

Rao's counsel R K Anand was also non-committal and only said: "We do not know what the judgement is. Let us see the order first, then we will move the high court.

Former Union minister Ajit Singh, who was acquitted, said "In fact I had voted against the Rao government during the no-confidence motion on July 28, 1993."

"It was an unnecessary headache for me," Singh said referring to the long drawn trial which began on September 25, 1997.

Capt Satish Sharma, who was also acquitted, said "I was falsely implicated in the case but I had full faith in the judiciary.

The court relied upon the statement of approver Shailendra Mahato, who had said each JMM MP had received Rs 5 million each soon after the July 28, 1993 no-confidence motion against the Rao government was defeated in the Lok Sabha.

The court held that the recovery of money from the Nauroji Nagar Branch of Punjab National Bank in South Delhi substantiated Mahato's statement.

"This evidence was sufficient to prove the prosecution case against Rao and Buta Singh," the court said.

Ravinder Kumar, president of the Rashtriya Mukti Morcha, which first brought the case to light, said: "The judgement is a step in the right direction. It proves that Rao bribed Members of Parliament to save his government. Uncovering this conspiracy involved seven years of labour.

The JMM bribery case: The full coverage

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