National

Madhu Srivastava denies bribing Zahira

By Manas Dasgupta

AHMEDABAD, DEC. 22. The Gujarat BJP MLA, Madhu Srivastava, accused of bribing Zahira Sheikh, prime witness in the Best Bakery case, to turn hostile, has denied his involvement in the episode.

Mr. Srivastava told mediapersons in Vadodara that he had never met Zahira and that there was no question of offering her and her family any money to turn hostile. He said the Tehelka tapes, which allegedly recorded his offer of Rs. 18 lakhs to Zahira, were "bogus." He challenged Tehelka or anyone else to prove that he had offered even "18 paise or 18 rupees" to Zahira. It was a "wild allegation." The tapes nowhere showed him offering money to her.

Doubting the authenticity of the voice on the tape, purported to be his, Mr. Srivastava said that as an MLA he was required to go to many places and attend functions. Someone, somewhere might have recorded his voice and super-imposed it on the tape or it could be fake. He denied that he had given any interview to Tehelka on the issue. Stating that he had full faith in the judiciary, which would decide the authenticity of the tape and the outcome of the Best Bakery case, Mr. Srivastava said he would discuss the matter with his party leaders before deciding the next course of action against Tehelka.

`I was framed'

His cousin, Chandrakant Srivastava, a Congress member of the Vadodara Municipal Corporation, whose name also figures in the tape, has also denied any involvement in the episode. He alleged that a former Congress member, now a Nationalist Congress Party corporator of Vadodara, might have framed him.

His friend and advocate, Sailesh Patel, who was connected with the Best Bakery case when it was being tried at the Vadodara fast track court, said the NCP corporator had come to him with his "friend from London" to discuss a murder case about a fortnight ago and wanted to know about the Best Bakery case. "But I refused to comment on the Best Bakery case as I was not connected with it since the trial ended in the Vadodara fast track court."

`Frequent change of stand'

Despite the alleged involvement of a Congress corporator, the pradesh Congress spokesman, Hasmukh Patel, supported the Tehelka stand. He said Zahira was frequently changing her stand on the case and it was obvious that she was doing it either under pressure or on lure of money.

Demanding a thorough inquiry into the tapes' issue to establish its authenticity, Mr. Patel said it had created doubts in the minds of the people that Zahira might have refused to recognise the accused because of the money allegedly offered to her by the ruling party. Considering the past contributions of Tehelka in exposing some BJP leaders and Ministers, the authenticity of the tapes could not be dismissed.

Doubts over denial

Neither the State Government sources nor the BJP were prepared to comment on the Madhu Srivastava episode. His denial that he had not even seen Zahira, however, has raised eyebrows in many circles as Mr. Srivastava was spotted more than once in the Vadodara fast track court when the Best Bakery trial was on. He had allegedly even accompanied the prime witness to the court when she turned hostile.

Questions have also been raised about the sources behind her in footing her and her family members' bills when they stayed in a star hotel in Vadodara and later in a fortress-like club resort in Ahmedabad when they were almost on the run after "escaping" from Mumbai where she alleged she was virtually held a prisoner by the social activist, Teesta Setalvad, and "her men."

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