Summon Kesri in JMM MPs bribery case: counsel

Surat Singh, counsel for two of the accused in the JMM MPs bribery scandal, wants Congress president Sitaram Kesri to be summoned before the designated court hearing the case or that all those named in the Central Bureau of Investigation chargesheet be discharged.

''The CBI cannot be allowed to pick and choose the accused persons'', leaving out some in the process, Singh said in his petition filed in the trial court of Additional Sessions Judge Ajit Bharihoke.

Singh pointed out that in his confessional statement, former JMM MP Shailendra Mahato, who has been granted pardon and approver status by the court, had alleged that Kesri knew of the deal to bribe Opposition MPs to defeat the July 28, 1993 no-confidence motion against the P V Narasimha Rao government.

Besides admitting to having received Rs 5 million for voting against the motion, Mahato had stated that Kesri, who was then Congress treasurer, had called the four JMM MPs to central hall of Parliament hours before the voting and assured them that the promises made to them by Rao would be honoured.

Rao, former Union ministers Buta Singh, Satish Sharma, Ajit Singh and Ram Lakhan Singh Yadav and former chief ministers Bhajan Lal of Haryana and M Veerappa Moily of Karnataka are among those accused in this case.

The petition said Mahato's statement had made it clear that Kesri ''is also one of the accused who committed the same offence'' and sought his summoning under section 319 of the Criminal Procedure Code, he said, adding, ''Not doing so would be discriminatory against the accused persons who are appearing before this hon'ble court.''