Cash-for-votes scam: Amar Singh gets bail

Rajya Sabha Member of Parliament Amar Singh was on Thursday granted interim bail till September 19 on health grounds by a Delhi court in the 2008 cash-for-vote scam.

The 55-year-old former Samajwadi Party leader was granted interim bail by Special Judge Sangita Dhingra Sehgal. Singh was in judicial custody for nine days.

He was arrested on September 6 after he appeared in court in response to its summons for his alleged role in the scam. Singh, who had undergone a kidney transplant, was subsequently sent to AIIMS on September 12 following complaints of vomiting and diarrhoea.

"Amar Singh granted interim bail till September 19," the judge said while directing Singh to submit his passport to the court and not to leave Delhi without its permission.

The court is slated to hear Singh's regular bail plea on September 19.

The court had reserved its order on Singh's interim bail plea earlier after briefly hearing arguments on it by defence and prosecution counsel.

Speaking to journalists, his advocate Asgar Khan said that the court had asked Singh to execute a personal bond of Rs 2 lakh and a surety of the amount.

"The conditions that have been imposed are normal. He would not leave India and would be under treatment at AIIMS till September and we can now file for a regular bail. If he needs to be taken to any other hospital or Singapore, we will move the court," he said.

Singh's counsel Hariharan sought interim bail, referring to the medical report given by AIIMS on Wednesday to the court and contending that the Tihar Jail authorities earlier had given misleading reports to the court.

He said his client was being treated differently "only because he is Amar Singh" and added his health parameters make a good case for bail.

"I say misleading because the jail authorities said his parameters were slightly above normal but it was dangerously above normal for a person with one kidney and that too a
transplanted one," he said.

He added that Singh is entitled for bail as he is "sick and infirm" and this fact has been corroborated by the report submitted by AIIMS.

Public prosecutor Rajiv Mohan countered the allegations, saying Singh was being treated just like any other inmate of the jail.

In a two-page medical report, the AIIMS authorities had on Wednesday told the court that Singh was suffering from multiple health problems and was prone to infection.

Additional inputs from PTI