Cash-for-votes: Amar's bail extended, Ahmed Patel dragged in

A special court hearing the cash-for-votes scam extended the interim bail granted to the former Samajwadi Party leader, in custody for alleged involvement in the corruption scandal and currently at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS).

Arguing his case, Amar Singh's counsel and veteran lawyer Ram Jethmalani attacked the Congress and dragged in party chief Sonia Gandhi's political secretary Ahmed Patel into the scam.

“The person who paid the money was not Amar Singh but obviously Ahmed Patel... the notice could only be attributed to parties which wanted to save the government,” Jethmalani said in the special court.

He said he was not trying to blame the Congress party but wanted to say that many influential members of the party were responsible for the money trail.

Pressing for Amar Singh's bail, Jethmalani said the statement of accused in the case cannot be treated as evidence.

“Statement of the accused is technically no evidence. Nowhere throughout the camera operation one can find the face or even the voice of Amar Singh,” Jethmalani said.

Amar Singh was arrested Sep 6 for his alleged involvement in an attempt to bribe MPs ahead of the July 2008 parliament trust vote.

On July 22, 2008, three BJP MPs waved wads of currency notes in the Lok Sabha ahead of a trust vote, alleging they were given the money to vote in favour of the Manmohan Singh government.

The 55-year-old leader, who is a patient of diabetes, underwent a renal transplant in September 2009 and intestinal surgery 10 years ago. Besides, he is also a patient of hypertension, tuberculosis infection, chronic kidney disease and urinary tract infection.