The trial court hearing the cash-for-vote scam sent Rajya Sabha MP Amar Singh to Tihar Jail on Tuesday, dismissing the desperate pleading of the once-formidable Samajwadi Party leader that he be released on bail because of his fragile health condition. Special judge Sangita Dhingra Sehgal remained unmoved as Singh said he needed round-the-clock medical surveillance because of his kidney transplant and promised to behave well during the trial. She remanded him along with two former BJP MPs—Mahavir Singh Bhagora and Faggan Singh Kulaste—in judicial custody till September 19. The judicial custody caps a series of setbacks for Singh whose clout in political and business circles as well as in the entertainment industry would cause heartburn among the rich and the famous not too long ago. However, the judge left a window of hope ajar for Singh’s early release from Tihar by agreeing to hear his plea for interim bail on Thursday. Singh has been accused of seeking to bribe three BJP MPs to side with the government during the July 2008 trust vote. Delhi police opposed his bail plea, saying the charges against him were grave in nature and the scam “shook the democratic set-up of the country”. The order signalling the judiciary’s tough stand on scams involving politicians adds to the number of sitting MPs lodged in Tihar; Singh joins former telecom minister A Raja, Commonwealth Games organizer Suresh Kalmadi, DMK chief M Karunanidhi’s daughter Kanimozhi and former Jharkhand CM Madhu Koda.
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