The "callous" approach of Delhi Police in probing the 2008 'cash-for-vote scam' came under severe criticism from the Supreme Court which questioned why no custodial interrogation has been conducted.
The "callous" approach of Delhi Police in probing the 2008 'cash-for-vote scam' was severely criticised on Friday by the Supreme Court which questioned why no custodial interrogation had been conducted in the case so far.
"We are not happy at all with probe done by the Delhi Police. This is not the way to prove the offence of such serious nature," a bench headed by Justice Aftab Alam said.
Expressing dissatisfaction, the bench said no progress has been made by the police in more than two years.
"No substantial progress has been made in two years. We are really concerned. Investigation must move fast and it must be brought to its logical conclusion," it said.
The court was hearing a petition filed by former Chief Election Commissioner JM Lyngdoh seeking directions to the government to take action against politicians involved in the scam which relates the trust vote faced by the UPA government in July 2008.
When the matter came up for hearing, the bench expressed surprise over the status report filed by the Delhi Police.
"This is not investigation. You are telling a story to the court on the basis of statement made by some people. There is no inference drawn up by you," the bench said.
The court expressed concern, saying "Investigation has been done with callousness on the complaint filed by Lok Sabha Secretary."
The court asked the police to file a fresh status report within two weeks.
Lyngdoh had alleged that though the entire nation was shocked by the spectacle of three Bharatiya Janata Party MPs displaying wads of currency notes in Parliament as bribe money to vote in favour of the UPA during the 2008 trust vote, no action has so far been taken against the guilty.
According to the petition, though the incident had occurred on July 22, 2008, neither the Delhi Police Crime Branch which registered an FIR nor the chairman of the Joint Parliamentary Committee had taken any tangible step.
Lyngdoh urged the apex court to direct the government to set up an independent SIT to probe the allegations.
On July 22, 2008, three BJP members had placed one crore rupee cash in Lok Sabha alleging they were given to them by floor managers of the UPA government to secure their support during the no-confidence motion after Left parties withdrew their support over the Indo-US nuclear deal.
The allegation was levelled by BJP MPs Ashok Argal, Faggan Singh Kulaste and Mahavir Bhagora.
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