Visibly upset, the Minister called an impromptu news conference at his chamber at the Secretariate this afternoon to refute the charge by Chaudhary that Bhushan had visited the former Home Minister and asked for his share in the commission in the deal. ``The charge is baseless and my son will serve a defamation notice on Chaudhary by this evening'', Bhatt said.

On Monday Chaudhary had alleged that Chief Minister Keshubhai Patel's son-in-law Mayur Desai and Bhushan had visited him and asked for share in the commission in the deal. Chaudhary had also claimed that he possessed an audio cassette of the conversation they held with him.

Refuting the charge, Ashok Bhatt said the previous RJP government had, on January 3 last, decided to purchase 225 jeeps worth about Rs 6 crore for the Health Department from the Bajaj Company through the Rajkamal Motors, the Mehsana-based partnership firm of Chaudhary. But, the decision was reversed by the BJP Government on March 20, replacing the Rajkamal Motors with the Alfa Motors, the Himatnagar-based Bajaj dealers.

To support his claim, the Minister released copies of the correspondence between the Pune-based Bajaj Tempo Ltd officials and the State Health Commissioner, replacing the Rajkamal Motors with the Alfa Motors. However, the correspondence mentions only about the transportation charges to be paid to the Alfa Motors, without referring to the payment of commission to the dealers. And, a copy of the letter, distributed by Bhatt, clearly states that Alfa Motors had been paid only transportation charges of over Rs 7.68 lakh and not the dealers' commission.

Ashok Bhatt said his department had given clear instructions to the Bajaj Company to pay the dealers' commission to Alfa Motors only. When queried, Bhatt, however, said, ``We will seek an explanation from the Bajaj Company if it was found to have paid the dealers' commission to Rajkamal Motors''.

Contradicting Bhatt's claim, Chaudhary said the BJP Government did purchase the vehicles only through Rajkamal Motors on March 23 last and paid the dealers' commission of over Rs 5.51 lakh to his partnership firm through a cheque. He demanded that the Health Minister furnish a documentary proof, if any, showing payment of the dealers' commission to Alfa Motors.

When contacted over phone late in the evening, Chaudhary told Express Newsline: ``I am not scared of any defamation suit against me. If Bhatt has the courage to take on me, he should request his BJP bosses to recommend a thorough probe by the CBI in the entire deal. I am prepared to present to the CBI the audio cassette containing the conversation Mayur and Bhushan had held with me''.