New Delhi, Sept. 27: Sudheendra Kulkarni, a former L.K. Advani aide, was today sent to Tihar jail in the cash-for-votes scam that has already snared Amar Singh.

Kulkarni, who was also known to have written Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s speeches, was remanded in judicial custody till October 1 by a Delhi court where he had appeared in response to summons after failing to show up at the last two hearings as he was in the US.

Judge Sangita Dhingra Sehgal was not convinced by Kulkarni’s arguments that he was just a “whistle-blower” and, therefore, should not be arrested.

Kulkarni’s lawyer said his client had nothing to hide and that he was not running away from anyone. “I (Kulkarni) am ready to go to jail if exposing corruption is a crime. If my purpose was to pocket the money, I would not have let it be shown in Parliament.”

The IIT alumnus has been dubbed the “mastermind” in the chargesheet filed by Delhi police, who claimed he was in contact with all the accused and was present when the “illegal gratification” was paid to the MPs ahead of the July 22, 2008, trust vote on UPA I.

Former BJP legislators F.S. Kulaste and Mahavir Singh Bhagora were arrested along with Amar this month for their role in the scandal.

During today’s proceedings, judge Dhingra pulled up the prosecution for arresting only some of the accused named in the chargesheet.

“They (prosecution) have no justification for arresting two to three accused and leaving out the others. They cannot pick and choose,” the judge said. The police have not yet taken any action against Ashok Argal, a sitting BJP MP, and are awaiting sanction from the Speaker.

The chargesheet says Amar entered into a conspiracy with his former aide Sanjeev Saxena and the others to bribe the then MPs and Kulkarni played an active role. Kulkarni is also accused of keeping the cops in the dark despite having “full knowledge” of the scam.