New Delhi: Former Samata Party president Jaya Jaitly was on Wednesday was charged with taking a bribe from undercover reporters to influence then Defence Minister George Fernandes.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) filed a chargesheet which alleges that Jaitly took money from Tehelka reporters posing as representatives of a fictitious UK-based arms firm.
The chargesheet—the seventh in the case—also names Major General (retired) S P Murugai and Samata Party leader Gopal Pacherwal as accused who have been booked under laws related to criminal conspiracy the Prevention of Corruption Act.
Surender Kumar Surekha, an industrialist from Kanpur, has been named as an approver in the case, which was registered December 6, 2004.
The CBI alleges that Tehelka reporters sought Jaitly’s help through Murugai and Surekha to obtain orders for equipment from the defence ministry.
An amount of Rs 2 lakh was allegedly given to Pacherwal on Jaitly’s order at a meeting at Fernandes’ official residence in Delhi.
In a video film secretly filmed by the reporters, Jaitly is reportedly seen saying that she would put in a word to "Sahib's (Fernandes) office" if the firm was not considered.
Murgai and Surekha were present when the meeting between Jaitly and the reporters took place. Surekha was allegedly paid Rs 1 lakh separately for services rendered by him in facilitating the meeting while payments were allegedly made to Murgai at regular intervals, it said.
The CBI filed its first chargesheet against former BJP president Bangaru Laxman on July 18 in the case related to the expose of alleged corruption in defence deals. Laxman had allegedly accepted Rs 1 lakh as a bribe.
The second chargesheet was filed against H C Pant, a former staff officer of the Ordnance Factory Cell in the defence ministry, for allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 70,000 from representatives of the fictitious firm.
The third chargesheet was filed against defence ministry's assistant financial advisor Narender Singh.
The fourth chargesheet was filed against Samata Party treasurer R K Jain for allegedly receiving a bribe, while the fifth and sixth were filed against Lt Col (retired) V P Sayal and sacked Brig Iqbal Singh, and an assistant in the defence ministry, P Sasi, for allegedly accepting Rs 80,500 as bribe for supplying vital information, respectively.
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