POLICE in India widened their probe into charges some opposition lawmakers were bribed in 2008 to vote for the Congress party-led government in a confidence vote, as prosecutors prepared today to oppose the bail plea of one of those accused.
Sohail Hindustani yesterday became the second person to be arrested after the Supreme Court pulled up police for tardy progress in the case, which could prove a fresh embarrassment for Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh.
The 2008 confidence vote, which nearly brought down the coalition government, was sparked by opposition to a civil nuclear agreement between the US and India, which ended New Delhi's isolation in the global nuclear market.
“He (Hindustani) will be presented in court at 2 pm (0830 GMT),” Delhi police spokesman Rajan Bhagat said, affirming the police would seek to continue holding him in custody. Indian law permits accused to be held for up to 90 days without filing charges.
Police have not yet drawn any link between the two arrested suspects and the Congress party.
Allegations of graft emerged in the middle of the 2008 confidence vote, which was forced on Dr Singh after four communist parties withdrew support from the government over the civilian nuclear deal with the US.
As parliament debated the 2008 vote, three opposition members stood up waving bundles of cash they said was given to them to vote for the government. In the pandemonium that followed, Dr Singh won the vote by a narrow margin.
Hindustani is accused of acting as a go-between to facilitate the bribes. Once an associate of the youth wing of the main opposition Bharaiya Janata Party (BJP), he has said that he was only acting as a whistle-blower to expose corruption.
