Conducting a sting is not tampering with evidence: Somnath Bharti

Delhi Law Minister Somnath Bharti, who was indicted by a CBI court along with his client for tampering with evidence in a corruption case, said Tuesday that his client was made a scapegoat in the case to save other officials, and added that conducting a sting does not amount to tampering with evidence.

Addressing a press conference here, Bharti said, "We made an audio CD to help the court and expose the lies by the witness. We thought to confront the witness with the CD. We moved an application for permission to bring this audio CD on record."

"The moment the judge and the investigating officer of the CBI came to know about the content of this CD, they immediately moved an application for cancellation of bail. My client, Pawan Kumar's bail was cancelled and he was sent to jail," he added.

He also alleged that no attempt was made to ascertain the trail of money, and, added that his client was made a scapegoat and all others are let off.

"Attempts were made to stop the CD from coming on record. But, in all of this process, the CD which could have been used to unearth this 116 crore rupees scam and find out the actual culprits was lost," he said.

Earlier today, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal backed Bharti, saying, "We respect the judiciary of the country. But in this particular case, the observation of the court is wrong."

Last year, Somnath Bharti was indicted by a CBI court in Delhi along with his client Pawan Kumar, who was facing corruption charges. The duo was also accused by the CBI of influencing a prosecution witness.

CBI Special Judge Poonam A Bamba had then said, "The conduct of accused Pawan Kumar and his advocate (Bharti) is not only highly objectionable, unethical but also amounts to tampering with evidence,"

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