Singhvi blames 'organised gang' as CD goes viral on web

New Delhi, April 21 (IANS) With a controversial CD allegedly featuring him going viral on internet, Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi Saturday accused "motivated interests" of fielding "an organised gang" to use social sites for "sensationalism" despite a court order.

Singhvi reiterated that the contents of the CD were fabricated and morphed but did not identify the "vested interests" behind its going viral in the social media. He also slammed social media.

"It is obvious that the adage 'be you the ever so high, law is above you' does not apply to any social media. Not only is there a court injunction, not only has the author of the alleged CD sworn in an affidavit in court and accepted that the contents were fabricated and morphed, but even as respectable a media group as India Today has accepted the position of the court," Singhvi told IANS.

"Obviously, an organised gang has been purposely used by motivated interests to concertedly use the social sites for sensationalism and permanent damage. Remember, this can happen to anyone and if this lawlessness is allowed to continue as it is, we will all be consumed shortly," he added

The Delhi High Court in an order passed April 13 restrained Aaj Tak, Headlines Today and the India Today Group from disseminating the contents of the CD allegedly prepared by Singhvi's former driver.

But the around 13-minute-long video, which Singhvi has called fabricated and defamatory, was posted on YouTube Friday and has since got over 9,000 views and several comments. It has been posted by a person identifying himself as Laddi Rana.

Another site - Twitvid - also has the video, uploaded two days ago, with over 34,000 views. It was posted by Tejinder Pal Singh Bagga of the Delhi-based Bhagat Singh Kranti Sena (BSKS), also known for attacking lawyer Prashant Bhushan in his Supreme Court chamber in October 2011.

"I downloaded the video from YouTube Thursday and posted on Twitvid. It had been uploaded by someone named 'Singhvi' which was obviously a fake profile," Bagga told IANS.

"I am not afraid of these people and they deserve this. I am prepared for any consequence," he added.

Advocate Abhishek Bhandari, who appeared for Singhvi in the high court seeking permanent injunction on the alleged CD, told IANS that some organised groups were trying to defame the Congress spokesperson.

"I am sure that Singhvi will take strict legal action against this," he said.

When IANS contacted Google on whether it had received any request from Singhvi to take the clip off the video, one of its officials said: "I cannot comment on it as I have no information about it."