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Kejriwal defends Law Minister Somanth Bharti

According to media report Bharti and his client Pawan Kumar are facing prosecution on corruption charges

IANS New Delhi
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal Tuesday defended Law Minister Somanth Bharti asserting that his cabinet colleague did not tamper with evidence.

According to media report Bharti and his client Pawan Kumar are facing prosecution on corruption charges - after the CBI accused them of influencing a prosecution's witness by speaking to him on phone and discussing it.

"Somnath Bharti was trying to save a junior level officer and the sting operation that has been done is being called tampering of evidence by the judges," Kejriwal told reporters.

"We are ready to give the recording and then you can see and tell where has the tampering been done. I have told Somnath that the recording be played in the media," he added.

Also Read: BJP demands Somnath Bharati's resignation

 

Explaining the case, the chief minister said: "We need to understand the entire case. This is almost a Rs.100 crore corruption case. It was a a fraud within the bank."

"Whenever anybody exports anything, a letter of credit is received against the consignment. False letters Of credit were raised and senior bank officials were involved," added Kejriwal.

He also pointed out that the CBI made a junior level desk officer Pawan Kumar a scapegoat and arrested him.

"Everybody was talking in the bank and openly accepting that they had put him (Pawan Kumar) in the trap. Pawan Kumar did a sting operation and called all senior officers," Kejriwal said.

"Whatever, they were saying was recorded, there was no tampering of the evidence instead court was being given more evidence," he said.

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First Published: Jan 14 2014 | 3:18 PM IST

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