SC seeks details of ‘note-for-vote’ scam probe

Even as the 2008 'cash-for-vote' scam gathered fresh impetus in the light of recent WikiLeaks revelations, the Supreme Court on Monday directed the union government and the Delhi police for a status report on the progress of the investigations into the matter.

Acting on a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by former chief election commissioner J M Lyngdoh, a bench comprising justices Aftab Alam and R M Lodha issued notices to the government and the Delhi police commissioner asking for the status of the crime branch's investigation into the first information report registered in January 2009.

The FIR was filed nearly six months after the July 2008 no-confidence motion against the previous UPA government (dubbed 'UPA-I' by the media), when MPs had waved wads of currency notes in Parliament, alleging bribes were paid to buy their votes in favour of Congress-led government.

Lyngdoh in his petition alleged that the investigation was moving at a snail's pace, and was not aimed at unearthing the truth behind the episode.

Senior counsels Rajeev Dhawan and advocate Prashant Kumar, appearing for Lyngdoh, claimed before the bench that the appropriate authorities had failed to initiate action against the alleged offenders.

Lyngdoh sought court directions to the government to set-up a fully-empowered, independent special investigation team (SIT) to conduct the probe in a time-bound manner into the alleged scam.