Rao sees retaliation in JMM case

NEW DELHI, APRIL 20. The former Prime Minister, Mr. P. V. Narasimha Rao, today told a special court that he was implicated in the JMM MPs bribery case in retaliation to the prosecution initiated by his Government against 34 politicians in the hawala case.

``A Public Interest Litigation (PIL) was filed by the Rashtriya Mukti Morcha (RMM) president, Mr. Ravinder Kumar, at the instance of Mr. Ram Jethmalani only after the hawala scandal came to light,'' Mr. Rao's counsel, Mr. R. K. Anand, told special judge, Mr. Ajit Bharihoke, while advancing his final arguments in the case.

Mr. Anand also accused the Prime Minister, Mr. A. B. Vajpayee, and the Union Law Minister, Mr. Ram Jethmalani, of ``firing a salvo in retaliation to the Hawala case'' in 1996 by using Mr. Shailendra Mahato, approver in the bribery case.

``This man (Mahato) is in the habit of making false statements before Parliament, press, police and the Court'' and his statements could not be admitted as evidence, Mr. Anand maintained.

The CBI had charged Mr. Rao, Mr. Buta Singh and nine others with hatching a ``conspiracy'' to bribe some Opposition MPs to save the then Congress(I) Government in 1993, when a no- trust motion was moved in the Lok Sabha. The Government survived the motion by 14 votes.

- PTI

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