Shanti Bhushan sends legal notice to Congress leader Digvijay Singh

New Delhi, Apr. 20 (ANI): Former Union Law Minister Shanti Bhushan on Wednesday sent a legal notice to Congress Party General Secretary Digvijay Singh, asking him to apologise for questioning his character and legal credentials.

It maybe recalled that earlier this week, Singh had criticized civil rights activists and accused them of spending a huge amount of Rupees 50 lakh on their campaign for a tough anti-corruption law.

He had then wondered why the civil rights activists were targeting politicians for spending on elections.

"If people representing the civil society can spend Rs.50 lakh, then why are they targeting us politicians?," Singh had asked.

He added: "The fact of the matter is that the civil society is not answerable to anybody."

Singh had also questioned the inclusion of Shanti and Prashant Bhushan in the ten-member anti-graft panel, and alleged that they had evaded stamp duty to the tune of Rs.1.33 crore payable on a property in Allahabad.

The Bhushans have denied this charge vociferously, and countered Singh's statement by saying that he is a part of a "smear campaign" launched against civil rights activists.

Wednesday's developments surfaced as fresh allegations were made against the Bhushans regarding declaration of their moveable and non-moveable assets.

Media reports alleged that the Bhushans were allotted land by the Mayawati Government in NOIDA, Uttar Pradesh at a fraction of the original price.

The fresh allegations came into the public domain even as Shanti Bhushan's younger son Jayant Bhushan is fighting a case against the Uttar Pradesh Government, and a case of conflict of itnerest is being made out.

According to reports, the Bhushans didn't declare that a farmhouse given to them was from the Mayawati Government.

While declaring his assets last week, Shanti Bhushan, who is also co-chairman of the drafting committee of the Lokpal Bill, mentioned a 10,000 sq m farmland plot in NOIDA.

The matter of allotment of Noida farmland is now the subject of a case in the Allahabad High Court filed by former Additional Solicitor General Vikas Singh. Singh is also one of the people whom land was alloted to.

Alleging that he was allotted one of the worst pieces of land , Singh has called for the cancellation of the allotments.

Vikas Singh claims that the farmland was allotted to him as punishment sending several letters of complaint on the arbitrary manner in which the farmland was being allotted.

Each farmhouse reportedly costs Rs 3.5 crore. Allottees had to pay a minor amount of 10 percent of the total sum ( Rs 35 lakh) at the time of allotment. The rest of the amount was paid in 16 instalments. According to Vikas Singh, the amount is is less than a quarter of the market rate.

Senior advocate Jayant Bhushan said: "The allegations made in media reports are completely absurd. The allegations have been made to tarnish the reputation of my father and brother who are part of the Lokpal bill drafting committee. The allegations began as soon as our fight against corruption took momentum."

Former police officer Kiran Bedi said: "There seem to be powers working against the committee. It seems that certain people do not want a Lokpal Committee. I do not understand why an issue is being made when it seems that a regular procedure was followed." (ANI)