New Delhi:
Kanimozhi, the daughter of the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, is due tomorrow in the Delhi court that's trying India's biggest-ever scam - the 2G spectrum scam. Kanimozhi has been accused of conspiracy and accepting a bribe. Sources in the CBI say they will oppose her bail. That means the young MP from the DMK could be sent to jail.
"If that is what the legal system wants...we have to face everything legally...we cannot run away from things like the opposition leader in Tamil Nadu does," she said today to NDTV, while taking a swipe at her party's political bete noire, Jayalalithaa. "We have to respect the court...we have to face it...I can't keep running away," Kanimozhi said. "We have to face whatever the courts decide and I don't want to speculate...let's wait and see what happens tomorrow." The DMK MP says she doesn't expect leniency because she's a woman.
Kanimozhi, a Rajya Sabha MP, has been accused by the CBI of accepting a 214-crore bribe along with her partyman, A Raja, who is already in Tihar Jail. Mr Raja was Telecom Minister when he allegedly gave away licenses and 2G spectrum in 2008 to companies that did not meet the eligibility criteria. He has been accused of cheating, forgery and criminal conspiracy.
So far, the CBI has opposed bail for anyone who has been chargesheeted in the 2G scam, including five executives from some of the country's biggest companies - Swan Telecom, Reliance Telecom and Unitech Wireless. Sources in the CBI say that while opposing Kanimozhi's bail, they will argue, like in the case of the executives, that she could influence witnesses if she is not sent to jail.
Kanimozhi's husband and mother are in Delhi with her. M Karunanidhi, her father, reportedly wanted to accompany her to court tomorrow but she refused his offer. "We don't want him to travel all the way," she said. Mr Karunanidhi has in recent weeks been critical of what he describes as excessive publicity given to Kanimozhi's interrogation in March in Chennai. He also expressed his resentment of the chargesheet against her being leaked to the media a few days before the CBI presented it in court.
Kanimozhi, whose stepbrothers MK Alagiri and MK Stalin are also heavyweight politicians, is known to be her father's favourite.
Along with her stepmother, she owns a part of Kalaignar TV, a local channel in Chennai. A bribe from Swan Telecom to Mr Raja - a hefty thank you for a telecom license - was allegedly routed through a labyrinth of companies before it was deposited with Kalaignar. During her interrogation, Kanimozhi said that the money was part of an equity deal that collapsed; she said the money was returned with interest. However, the CBI points out that the return was made only after Mr Raja started being questioned about the 2G scam.
Today, she repeated the line of defence she offered during her interrogation by the CBI. "I am not a director and I have not made any decisions," she said, suggesting that she was not aware of the deals being struck by Kalaignar TV. However, the CBI has countered this claim in its chargesheet, describing her as an active player in her TV channel. The CBI pointed out that she lobbied hard for broadcasting permits and for Kalaignar to be added to Tata Sky's DTH service.