New Delhi:
On the sidelines of the various controversies that Shanti Bhushan finds himself in, a war of words is playing out between the eminent lawyer and Congress leader Digvijaya Singh.
In Lucknow on Thursday, the Congress general secretary made light of Mr Bhushan serving a legal notice asking him to publicly apologise for what he called "incorrect allegations" and casting aspersions on his integrity by alleging that he had undervalued property in Allahabad and not paid enough stamp duty.
The Congress leader said, "If Shanti Bhushan has to file a defamation suit, he should file it against the official who sent him the notice or on Mayawati whose government issued the notice."
So saying the Congress leader asked Mr Bhushan not to "threaten anyone with a defamation suit," adding that he would reply to any notice only in court. Shanti Bhushan's notice to Singh takes exception at Digvijaya Singh alleging on a TV show that he (Bhushan) had undervalued a property in Allahabad and not paid adequate stamp duty on it.
Served through lawyer Kamini Jaiswal, the defamation notice states: "In this show you cast an aspersion on the integrity of my client and also suggested that my client had undervalued the property which he had purchased in Allahabad and also not paid adequate stamp duty on it. You also said this raised serious question marks about his not being a suitable person to be on the committee for drafting the Lokpal Bill to fight corruption."
Pulling no punches, Digvijaya Singh attacked the Bhushans over the raging CD controversy too and about the Noida land allotment controversy.
"The Bhushans don't see any corruption in land deals in Mayawati's Noida...Two plots of 10,000-sq-metres were allotted there...the people of this country expect an eminent man like Shanti Bhushan to come out with the truth," Singh said.
Shanti Bhushan and his son, Jayant, were allotted two plots in Noida by the Uttar Pradesh government for Rs. 3.5 crore - that's just one-fourth the market price, according to some estimates. The plot had been mentioned by Shanti Bhushan in the list of assets that he declared when he was named co-chair of the committee that is developing the Lokpal Bill -it includes five ministers and five representatives of civil society, including Shanti Bhushan and his son, Prashant.
The land was allotted to the Bhushans in 2009 as part of a scheme offered by the government 'for development of farmhouses on agricultural land.' Close to 100 people reportedly qualified. The process followed by the government has been challenged in court by Vikas Singh, who has in the past served as Former Additional Solicitor General of the UP government. Mr Singh alleges that the government's allotment lacked transparency. He was allotted a plot too - he believes this was done to stop him from publicly questioning the procedure followed by the government.
The fact that the Bhushans accepted the land is being questioned by Digvijaya Singh and other people. Some point out that Jayant Bhushan took on Mayawati in a court case that challenged her decision to set up a memorial park in a part of Noida that is ecologically sensitive because of its proximity to a bird sanctuary. Jayant Bhushan has denied that given his legal battle with Mayawati, there could be a conflict of interest in accepting two plots of 10,000 square metres each from her government.
With IANS inputs