Barely 48 hours before the first meeting of the joint Lokpal drafting committee, a mysterious CD containing an alleged conversation between its co-chairperson Shanti Bhushan and Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav was doing the rounds in New Delhi.
In the conversation, Bhushan tells Mulayam that his son Prashant Bhushan (a member of the committee) could help him in a particular matter. Amar Singh is the alleged mediator.
The voices in the CD, however, could not be autheticated and Bhushan rubbished it. He said he had “already filed an FIR with Delhi Police in this regard”.
Bhushan told Deccan Chronicle: “The CD is a complete fabrication. I have filed an FIR with Delhi Police under section 469 IPC and the forensic investigation has already started. I have never met Amar Singh in my life, though I have seen him on a number of occasions. I can’t say Amar Singh has fabricated this tape, nor can I say who is behind this fabrication. Mulayam Singh has categorically denied taking part in any such conversation. People know me for the last 50 years, they know the values I have stood for. I don’t want to hazard a guess who is behind it. What is the use of guessing. It is obvious some powerful people are beginning to feel a bit afraid. The enquiry into the 2G scam is already on. The object of drafting Lokpal Bill is that for the first time we will launch an investigation into all cases of corruption. It is obvious that people in high places are already feeling jittery.”