The Bar Council of Delhi on Monday said that the sleaze CD controversy surrounding lawyer and Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi has lowered the dignity of the legal profession. Singhvi maintains that the CD's contents were fabricated and morphed.
Rajiv Khosla, member of the Bar Council of Delhi and former president of the Delhi Bar Association, said: "Such incidents cause a great damage to the whole legal institution and cannot be taken as an isolated incident concerning only an individual."
Congress member of Rajya Sabha Abhishek Singhvi on Monday evening resigned as the party spokesperson and head of a key parliamentary panel over the persistent CD row after the BJP demanded a forensic test of the controversial disc to ascertain its authenticity.
However, Singhvi argued that his resignation as the chairman of Parliament's standing committee on law and justice and AICC spokesman was no admission of guilt. "I have done this only to prevent even the slightest possible parliamentary disruption regarding the purported CDs being circulated about me...I did not think it fit to subject the party to any inconvenience on this account," the MP said.
He reiterated that the allegations made about the CD were false, particularly stressing that there was no reference to the "promise of any post" in the "fabricated and morphed" disc.
The senior lawyer said, "It is pure imagination, wishful thinking and sensationalism", blaming his opponents "who have assiduously spent over 10 days hearing, seeing amplifying and distilling the CD (but) have found no vestige of any reference, not even remotely, to any illegality, corrupt practice or wrongdoing".
"The canard was spread simply to give the issue a public interest flavour since otherwise the contents of the CD, assuming them to be true (which they certainly are not, would disclose only something private and consensual."
The CD was "giving a cause of action only to aggrieved family members (who have stood completely by me) and to no one else", he said. "Either the CD is morphed or it is not. In either event, it raises no public interest issue, yet evokes salacious private and prurient interest and contumacious internet violation of a flagrant kind".
The resignation followed after the CD went viral on social media, rendered irrelevant a court injunction Singhvi had secured to pre-empt coverage of the matter, leading the BJP to demand a CFSL probe to determine the CD's authenticity. Sources said that the party conveyed its stand to the chairman of Rajya Sabha Hamid Ansari. Explaining the party's stance, it said, "If the CD is indeed doctored as Singhvi claims, then it seriously impinges upon the privilege of an MP and the matter needs to be examined by the privileges committee of the Rajya Sabha. In case, it is genuine, it seriously reflects upon the conduct of the MP who is also the chairman of the standing committee on law and justice, and calls for a probe by the ethics panel of the House... BJP would like either of the courses to be followed".
The pressure from the opposition and the sure prospect of embarrassment for the treasury bench on the opening day of the post-recess part of the Budget session narrowed the options for Singhvi amid indications that the Congress leadership may have leaned on him to retreat into the background, at least for the time being.
Singhvi has not briefed the media since the CD controversy erupted 10 days ago, with the Congress MP blaming it on the vendetta of his former driver. Political circles remained agog with the contents of the CD even after Singhvi and his driver reached a settlement, with the latter admitting to have morphed the content of the disc and the lawyer deciding not to seek his prosecution.
Singhvi appealed to fellow politicians to drop the matter. "As a political or professional class, instead of gleefully watching, promoting or participating in a person's natural and understandable discomfiture, we must respect privacy issues". However, neithers nor his resignation may deter the issue from being raised in Rajya Sabha on Tuesday, with leader of the opposition Arun Jaitley saying that the BJP would demand a statement from Singhvi on circumstances for his quitting as the head of the standing committee.
The Congress reacted to the belated BJP offensive on the CD row, after having kept quiet for all these days, by saying the opposition party had no moral right to lecture on the morality after its MLAs in Karnataka and Gujarat were allegedly caught watching porn in the assembly.
However, the remark did not hide indications that Congress may have left Singhvi to fend for himself, with no leader from the party or the government coming to his defence. As the MP railed against the social media, telecom minister Kapil Sibal fended off queries on the need for restrictions on social media, saying, "It is an individual issue. An individual is entitled to seek relief from the courts. Government cannot be commenting on this issue...This government has not taken a single step to curb social media. We want a public discourse on the issue. There is no reason for anyone to fear.''
However, Singhvi argued that his resignation as the chairman of Parliament's standing committee on law and justice and AICC spokesman was no admission of guilt. "I have done this only to prevent even the slightest possible parliamentary disruption regarding the purported CDs being circulated about me...I did not think it fit to subject the party to any inconvenience on this account," the MP said.
He reiterated that the allegations made about the CD were false, particularly stressing that there was no reference to the "promise of any post" in the "fabricated and morphed" disc.
The senior lawyer said, "It is pure imagination, wishful thinking and sensationalism", blaming his opponents "who have assiduously spent over 10 days hearing, seeing amplifying and distilling the CD (but) have found no vestige of any reference, not even remotely, to any illegality, corrupt practice or wrongdoing".
"The canard was spread simply to give the issue a public interest flavour since otherwise the contents of the CD, assuming them to be true (which they certainly are not, would disclose only something private and consensual."
The CD was "giving a cause of action only to aggrieved family members (who have stood completely by me) and to no one else", he said. "Either the CD is morphed or it is not. In either event, it raises no public interest issue, yet evokes salacious private and prurient interest and contumacious internet violation of a flagrant kind".
The resignation followed after the CD went viral on social media, rendered irrelevant a court injunction Singhvi had secured to pre-empt coverage of the matter, leading the BJP to demand a CFSL probe to determine the CD's authenticity. Sources said that the party conveyed its stand to the chairman of Rajya Sabha Hamid Ansari. Explaining the party's stance, it said, "If the CD is indeed doctored as Singhvi claims, then it seriously impinges upon the privilege of an MP and the matter needs to be examined by the privileges committee of the Rajya Sabha. In case, it is genuine, it seriously reflects upon the conduct of the MP who is also the chairman of the standing committee on law and justice, and calls for a probe by the ethics panel of the House... BJP would like either of the courses to be followed".
The pressure from the opposition and the sure prospect of embarrassment for the treasury bench on the opening day of the post-recess part of the Budget session narrowed the options for Singhvi amid indications that the Congress leadership may have leaned on him to retreat into the background, at least for the time being.
Singhvi has not briefed the media since the CD controversy erupted 10 days ago, with the Congress MP blaming it on the vendetta of his former driver. Political circles remained agog with the contents of the CD even after Singhvi and his driver reached a settlement, with the latter admitting to have morphed the content of the disc and the lawyer deciding not to seek his prosecution.
Singhvi appealed to fellow politicians to drop the matter. "As a political or professional class, instead of gleefully watching, promoting or participating in a person's natural and understandable discomfiture, we must respect privacy issues". However, neithers nor his resignation may deter the issue from being raised in Rajya Sabha on Tuesday, with leader of the opposition Arun Jaitley saying that the BJP would demand a statement from Singhvi on circumstances for his quitting as the head of the standing committee.
The Congress reacted to the belated BJP offensive on the CD row, after having kept quiet for all these days, by saying the opposition party had no moral right to lecture on the morality after its MLAs in Karnataka and Gujarat were allegedly caught watching porn in the assembly.
However, the remark did not hide indications that Congress may have left Singhvi to fend for himself, with no leader from the party or the government coming to his defence. As the MP railed against the social media, telecom minister Kapil Sibal fended off queries on the need for restrictions on social media, saying, "It is an individual issue. An individual is entitled to seek relief from the courts. Government cannot be commenting on this issue...This government has not taken a single step to curb social media. We want a public discourse on the issue. There is no reason for anyone to fear.''
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