Congress paid bribe, says Amar counsel Ram Jethmalani

NEW DELHI: Amar Singh's counsel Ram Jethmalani on Monday changed his 'BJP-was-the-bribe-giver' script and blamed Congress for the cash-for-vote scandal.

During the last hearing, Jethmalani had said that the money could have come from BJP as LK Advani had admitted that his party had conducted the sting operation. After the sting operation, three BJP MPs had displayed wads of notes in the Lok Sabha and alleged that they were sought to be bribed by Amar Singh for backing the Manmohan Singh government during the July 2008 trust vote. In his submission before the court on Monday, Jethmalani did a U-turn and said a Congress leader was the bribe giver.

"The place of receipt of the bribe was not Amar Singh's home, but Le Meridien Hotel. The person to pay the bribe was not obviously Amar Singh but Congress, whose government was to be saved," said Jethmalani.

Meanwhile, the court extended bail to Amar Singh till September 27 on health grounds. CBI special court Judge Sangita Dhingra Sehgal had granted bail to Singh while asking him to apply for regular bail. As per bail conditions, Singh cannot travel abroad.