Sensationalism, says Singhvi as CD goes viral on web

[1]

With a controversial CD featuring Abhishek Manu Singhvi going viral on internet, the senior Congress leader has lashed out at social networking sites, saying they are indulging in 'sensationalism' despite a court injunction.

Singhvi said: "It is obvious that the adage 'be you the ever so high, law is above you' does not apply to any social media."

"Not only is there a court injunction, not only has the author of the alleged CD sworn in an affidavit in court and accepted that the contents were fabricated and morphed, but even as respectable a media group as India Today has accepted the position of the court," Singhvi said.

"Obviously, an organised gang has been purposely used by motivated interests to concertedly use the social sites for sensationalism and permanent damage. Remember, this can happen to anyone and if this lawlessness is allowed to continue as it is, we will all be consumed shortly."

The Delhi High Court in an order passed April 13 restrained Aaj Tak, Headlines Today and the India Today Group from disseminating the contents of the CD allegedly prepared by Singhvi's former driver.

But the clip, which allegedly features the senior advocate in sexual acts, is around 13 minutes long and was posted on YouTube on Friday and has since got over 9,000 views and several comments. It has been posted by a person identifying himself as Laddi Rana.

Another site - Twitvid - also has the video, uploaded two days ago, with close to 34,000 views. It was posted by Tejinder Pal Singh Bagga of the Delhi-based Bhagat Singh Kranti Sena (BSKS).

"I downloaded the video from YouTube Thursday and posted on Twitvid. It had been uploaded by someone named 'Singhvi' which was obviously a fake profile," Bagga said.

"I am not afraid of these people and they deserve this. I am prepared for any consequence," he added.

Bagga was also involved in the attack on lawyer Prashant Bhushan in his Supreme Court chamber in October 2011.

Advocate Abhishek Bhandari, who appeared for Abhishek Manu Singhvi in the high court seeking permanent injunction on the alleged CD, said that some organised groups were trying to defame the COngress spokesperson.

"I am sure that Singhvi will take strict legal action against this," he said.

When IANS contacted Google on whether it had received any request from Singhvi to take the clip off the video, one of its officials said: "I cannot comment on it as I have no information about it."