New Delhi: A Delhi court on Thursday deferred till Friday the hearing on the interim bail plea of Rajya Sabha member and former Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh, who is in jail for alleged involvement in the cash-for-vote scandal during the July 2008 trust vote in Parliament.
Amar Singh, 55, was arrested Tuesday and sent to judicial custody till September 19.
Special Judge Sangita Dhingra Sehgal adjourned the hearing on his interim bail application till Friday, directing the Tihar jail authorities to submit a report on his medical condition by 11 am.
The MP has sought interim bail on medical grounds.
"Amar Singh is not well. He is suffering from various medical problems like diabetes, hyper-tension, tuberculosis infection, chronic kidney disease and urinary tract infection. In such a condition if he (Singh) is kept in jail, his health will deteriorate," defence counsel said.
In the jail, Amar Singh was forced to use the common toilet. This was highly dangerous for a kidney patient suffering from urinary disease. Doctors have advised him to be kept in a sterile environment, he said.
The court directed defence counsel to provide a complete health report of Amar Singh before Sep 12.
Defence counsel said that as part of the MP's medical treatment, he was being given drugs and it was mandatory for him to visit doctor every third week.
"My client has an appointment with the doctor tomorrow (Friday) in Singapore at 11 am but he is in Tihar," said counsel.
He referred to a July 9 medical report from a hospital, where Singh got his kidney transplanted, which said that certain parameters in his body were not normal.
"My client is living on borrowed kidneys which too are deteriorating, leading to another failure. Our law is compassionate enough to understand such issues," he said.
Amar Singh and two former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MPs - Fagan Singh Kulaste and Mahavir Singh Bhagora - were arrested Tuesday for their alleged involvement in the attempt to bribe MPs ahead of the July 2008 parliament trust vote.
On July 22, 2008, three BJP MPs waved wads of currency notes in the Lok Sabha ahead of a trust vote, alleging they were given the money to vote in favour of the Manmohan Singh government.
The charge sheet alleged that during investigation "sufficient evidence" came on record that on the morning of July 22, 2008, Amar Singh "hatched a criminal conspiracy with his secretary Sanjeev Saxena to deliver cash of Rs.1 crore as illegal gratification".
Court seeks reports on Amar Singh's health
Meanwhile the court directed Tihar
jail authorities to submit a report on Amar Singh's health
condition.
Special Judge Sangita Dhingra Sehgal also asked prison
authorities to apprise her of the conditions in which the
high-profile politician is being kept in jail after a brief
hearing on Singh's bail plea seeking relief on health grounds.
"I am calling for a report from the jail superintendent on
his (Amar Singh) health condition and how is he being kept
there in the jail," the judge said.
With Agencies inputs
First Published: Thursday, September 08, 2011, 09:35