NEWDELHI: Following his resignation from all party posts on Monday, Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi, who has been embroiled in a CD row, refuted all allegations of corruption.
The CD, which was widely viewed and commented upon, was uploaded on YouTube last month. It purportedly showed the Supreme Court lawyer in a compromising position with a senior woman advocate. It has been alleged that in the CD Singhvi’s heard offering the advocate help in securing a position in higher judiciary, in exchange for the gratification received by him. This has lead to wide condemnation and even an appeal from few lawyers’ forums for an inquiry and his suspension from the Bar.
Singhvi has called the allegation, which appeared in “some sections of the print and visual media” as “false’’ and “repetition of hearsay”. “People inimically opposed to me, who have assiduously spent over 10 days hearing, seeing, amplifying and distilling the CD have found no vestige of any reference, not even remotely, to any illegality, corrupt
practice or wrongdoing,” he further said in a statement.
He has claimed that the allegation was spread to give the issue a public interest flavour since otherwise the contents of the CD “assuming them to be true (which they certainly are not), would disclose only something private and consensual giving a cause of action only to aggrieved family members (who have stood completely by me) and to no one else.’’
In the statement, Singhvi also points out that it has been accepted thrice over that the CD is “fabricated and morphed.” The driver’s (formerly in Singhvi’s employment) “disclosure statement to the police, his detailed statement (written pleading) in the High Court and his oral statement recorded on oath physically in the presence of the judge, all explain how and why he created this fabrication.’’
Continuing in the same vein, Singhvi also puts it on record that the driver’s threatening and blackmailing SMSes sent to his phone has been “recorded by in the last week of March itself, followed by a detailed four-page police complaint filed as far back as 29/3/12, 13 days before the alleged CDs first surface in the media.’’
The BJP may not let go off the issue so easily. Arun Jaitley, Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha, has said that his party expects a clarification from the Congress MP in the House.