“Accused Suresh Kalmadi has moved an application seeking permission from the court to attend the Parliament session. A notice is to be issued to the CBI for Monday,” Special CBI Judge Talwant Singh said.
The 66-year-old Mr. Kalmadi, who is a Lok Sabha member from Pune, sought the court’s permission to attend the 8th session of the 15th Lok Sabha commencing from August 1.
Earlier this month, Mr. Kalmadi had written to Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar seeking her permission to attend the monsoon session of Parliament. The Speaker, however, had said that he would be able to attend Parliament only if a competent court allowed him to do so.
In his application, moved through his counsel, he told the court that he has been served with summons from Lok Sabha Secretary General T.K. Vishwanathan to attend the session beginning August 1.
While seeking court’s permission to attend the Parliament session, which is slated to last till September 8, and “other incidental and necessary meetings” of it, Mr. Kalmadi said being a peoples’ representative “he has a larger role to play in the polity of the nation as an MP.”
Mr. Kalmadi also contended that denial of the permission to attend Parliament would “amount to denial of his right to participate in the proceedings of Parliament as a member accrued under the Constitution of India.”
Mr. Kalmadi also pleaded to the court to allow him to travel in his “duly authorised private vehicle which has the necessary permission to enter the Parliament complex.”
He contended that there is no apprehension of his absconding as “he is a highly respected member of the society and is holding political office in the country.” His mere release to attend the Parliament proceedings “would not intimidate witnesses or otherwise obstruct the course of justice.”
Mr. Kalmadi and ten others stand accused of committing corruption, cheating, forgery and hatching criminal conspiracy in illegally awarding a contract to install timing, scoring and result system to a Swiss firm on exorbitant rate.
The court has sought CBI’s reply on the application and put up the matter for Monday.