'Voluminous evidence' against Jogi: Arun Jaitley

Union Law Minister Arun Jaitley on Sunday expressed confidence that forensic experts will be able to prove the authenticity of audiotapes allegedly containing conversation between Ajit Jogi and a former BJP legislator.

He said there was 'voluminous evidence' against the former Chhattisgarh chief minister to prove that he attempted to break the party.

"The forensic laboratories, I have not the least doubt, will certify it is a genuine tape. Anybody who can hear Jogi's voice... will certainly be able to make out that it is his voice. Besides this, there is voluminous evidence. There was a press correspondent who saw the incident," Jaitley told NDTV from Raipur.

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"Audiotapes are perfectly admissible (in court) as evidence. A man who has recorded must come up and say I have recorded. The forensic experts must say it is a non-tampered tape," he said.

Jaitley said the evidence – 'money, tapes, everything' -- has been deposited with the anti-corruption branch.

The phone bills of Jogi and Congress Member of Parliament P R Kunte, who recently defected from BJP, the people in the party state unit vice-president Virender Pandey's house who were present when the money was delivered and Jogi's handwritten letter allegedly promising support to a BJP rebel government, all pointed at Jogi's invovlvement, the law minister said.

"It's his own handwriting, his own signature. Can he deny this? And he is admitting the letter. And this letter is only one step in the chain of entire conspiratorial act he's been doing," Jaitley said.

The law minister also denied the whole episode was planned in advance. "No we couldn't have planned in advance. Mr Jogi decided to plan to break the BJP at that time. It's only then could we set a trap."

When asked whether the Jogi episode would lead to a 'political resurrection' of Dilip Singh Judeo, Jaitley skirted the question saying, "The law is going to take its own course'."

"It (Judeo case) is now for the investigative agency to go into all the evidence and find out whether all the allegations are true or false," he said.