Top controversies of late Rajya Sabha MP Amar Singh

Amar Singh, Rajya Sabha MP and a former leader of the Samajwadi Party, passed away in Singapore on Saturday, after battling health issues for several months. While he made news on August 1 for his demise, he had been in limelight earlier for several controversies.

From facing charges of corruption to allegedly bribing a judge for the desired verdict, the politician had been in the news for varied reasons.

Also read: A look at Amar Singh's chequered relationship with Amitabh Bachchan

Here’s a list of Amar Singh’s controversies:

1. Phone tapping controversy, 2011

Amar Singh was allegedly heard fixing deals with top officials across various professions – politicians, businessmen, bureaucrats and members of the Bollywood industry over phone calls, which was 'exposed' by the media in 2011. Amar Singh had denied these allegations, saying that it was not his voice in the recordings.

2. Deal to fix-a-judge, 2011

A CD claiming to contain the recording of politicians including Amar Singh, Mulayam Singh Yadav and Shanti Bhushan allegedly striking a deal to fix a judge for Rs 4 crore to obtain the desired court verdict was found.

3. Death threats from SP leader Mayawati, 2010

According to a report by Outlook, Amar Singh had said that he received death threats from the then UP Chief Minister Mayawati and Mulayam Singh Yadav. He had also accused Mayawati of abducting six party workers prior to the trust vote. Later, six party MPs including Singh were expelled from the Samajwadi Party.

4. Amar Singh and the Big B family, 2009

The Samajwadi Party leader had links with Bollywood, including the Bachchan family. According to Singh, Amitabh Bachchan was like an elder brother and Singh is said to have helped the Bollywood megastar when his career was going through a bad phase. He had taken Jaya Bachchan under his wings during her term as a Samajwadi Party MP. This friendship ended on a harsh note when the SP expelled Singh and wanted Jaya to leave the party, to which she was reluctant.

5. Cash for votes controversy, 2008

Amar Singh was allegedly involved in a cash-for-votes scam when the United Progressive Alliance government was facing a trust vote in Parliament. He was chargesheeted for this alleged act of purchasing votes.

6. Delhi’s Batla House Encounter, 2008

The politician had asked for a judicial enquiry into the Batla House encounter, for he believed that the police shoot-out with the “terrorists” might have been fake or staged. He also gave a cheque of Rs 10 lakh to Mohan Chand Sharma’s family, a police officer who died in the encounter. The cheque bounced.

(With inputs from news reports and agencies)