Press Trust of India Posted online: Wednesday, December 22, 2004 at 2104 hours IST Updated: Wednesday, December 22, 2004 at 2113 hours IST
New Delhi, December 22: Dismissing "as a pack of lies" the allegation that prime witness in the Best Bakery case Zaheera Sheikh was bribed to turn hostile, NDA convenor George Fernandes today said there should first be an investigation into her previous statement that she had been threatened because of which she wanted the case to be shifted to Mumbai.
"Woh sab jhuth bolte hain...Unka janam hi jhooth me hua hai (they are all telling lies, they were born into falsehood)," he told reporters when asked to comment to a video-tape played by Tehelka in which BJP MLA was shown purportedly saying that Rs 18 lakh had been paid to Zaheera.
Questioned whether money could have played a role in the case, Fernandes replied, "The game of money is played both ways and we do not have that money power."
He said, "If there was a game of money here, it should first be investigated which party gave money which made Zaheera give a statement that she had been threatened and wanted the case to be shifted to Mumbai."
Earlier speaking at a programme organised by Subramaniam Swamy's Rashtriya Swabhiman Manch to discuss to national security, Fernandes alleged the Tehelka expose in corruption in defence deals in 2001 was being "managed from the home of Congress President Sonia Gandhi".
Jd-U leader Jaya Jaitley claimed that the Tehelka episode was "a conspiracy hatched to malign Fernandes to take revenge for Bofors scandal."
