Jodhpur court orders investigation into Jaswant Singhs opium party case

A special court here today ordered an inquiry against senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Jaswant Singh for allegedly distributing opium during a social function.

Jodhpur, Nov 5 : A special court here today ordered an inquiry against senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Jaswant Singh for allegedly distributing opium during a social function.

The inquiry was announced in response to a legal complaint that was filed against Jaswant Singh and nine other BJP leaders.

Apart from Jaswant Singh, the others charged include Raghuveer Singh Kaushal, Lalit Kishore Chaturvedi, Kailash Meghwal, state cabinet ministers Ghan Shyam Tiwari, Narpat Singh Rajvi, Madan Dilawar and Mahaveer Prasad Jain. Two BJP MLAs Jogeshwar Garg and Shankar Singh Rajpu Rohit were also named in the complaint.

It was alleged that Jaswant Singh welcomed his guests with an offering of opium diluted in water.

Singh has denied the charge.

"It's an old tradition to serve opium in functions like Riyan when the near and dear ones, and even people from the nearby villages, are invited when a family has got some good news," he said.

The complaint was filed by a Om Prakash Vishnoi, through his counsel Malam Singh Choudhary before the Special Judge, Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act cases, under various sections of the law.

The Act prescribes a 10-year jail term at the minimum for offenders and a fine of Rs 1 lakh for possessing opium.

On October 31, Singh had hosted a lunch at his ancestral village Jasol in Rajasthan's Barmer District to which several BJP leaders of the anti-Vasundhara Raje faction were invited.

ANI