The Supreme Court Thursday dismissed the bail plea of former Uttar Pradesh health minister Babu Singh Kushwaha, who is an accused in the National Rural Health Mission scam in the state.
Kushwaha was health minister in the Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party government (2007-12) and had to resign April 7, 2011, in the wake of the NHRM scam expose.
Rejecting his plea, a bench of Justice Ranjana Prakash Desai and Justice N.V. Ramana observed that it was a serious matter and the allegation too were serious.
As senior counsel Sushil Kumar, appearing for Kushwaha, told the court that his client was innocent and had no role in the scam, the court asked Kushwaha, who is challenging the Allahabad High Court's Feb 10 rejection of his bail plea, to wait for some more time.
"You wait for a while. You can always renew your plea for bail," the court said as Sushil Kumar pressed for bail.
The court observed that bail is not given in every matter, as the counsel referred to the apex court order granting bail to 2G scam Sanjay Chandra.