Cash-for-votes scam: Police pulled up for not obeying court's order

Delhi police today got flak from a court in the capital for not complying with its order to hold custodial interrogation of the accused in the cash-for-vote scam in the presence of their counsel.

When it did not receive satisfactory answer from the police about the presence of counsel for Sohail Hindustani and Sanjeev Saxena during their interrogation, the court said it was "perhaps not done" as the presence of advocates was not noted by the investigators.

"Whether you (police) interrogated them or not, you just now said that senior officials have questioned them. There was an order by the court that counsel for the accused should remain present during their interrogation. Was that done? Perhaps it was not done," Special Judge Sangita Dhingra Sehgal said.

The judge also rebuked the probe agency for not calling the counsel for the accused as per its order saying, "the lawyers' presence was ordered by the court. That presence you have not recorded despite the order".

The judge's remarks came after Hindustani's counsel Anand alleged he was not at all told about his client's interrogation as directed by the court.

"I was not allowed to enter the police station (crime branch office) yesterday evening. No interrogation took place in my presence. The court had yesterday ordered the presence of advocates for the accused during their interrogation," he said.

While being pulled up by the court, the police only said it was doing a fair investigation into the case.