New Delhi:
A Delhi court hearing the 2G scam case will decide today on the bail plea of Kanimozhi, whose father M Karunanidhi, heads the DMK party. The order is expected after 2.30 pm.
The Rajya Sabha MP has been chargesheeted by the CBI for allegedly accepting a Rs 214-crore bribe that was a part of India's largest swindle, the 2G scam. If the court rules against her, Kanimozhi will be taken to Tihar Jail.
Speaking to NDTV outside the court, Kanimozhi said, "I am feeling alright. Waiting for the order, will have to face whatever happens now".
Her party MP and former Telecom Minister A Raja is already in jail for allegedly planning and executing the 2G scam.
Along with Kanimozhi, the fate of Kalaignar TV Managing Director Sharath Kumar would also be decided by Special CBI Judge O P Saini, who had on May 14 deferred the order for today.
Kanimozhi and Kumar hold 20 per cent stake each in Kalaignar TV, while former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi's wife and Kanimozhi's step-mother Dayalu Ammal holds 60 per cent share.
The order on their bail plea has been deferred repeatedly. The last hearing on May 14 was a day after the results of the Tamil Nadu Assembly elections were announced. The DMK, which ruled the state for the last five years, got a severe drubbing.
Kanimozhi had appeared before the court for the first time on May 6 complying with the summons issued to her after the second chargesheet filed by the CBI named her as an accused in the case. She was directed by the court to be personally present before it till her bail was decided upon. Kanimozhi was earlier granted exemption for May 12 and 13 as she and Sharath Kumar were to appear before the Income Tax office in Chennai.
In court, noted lawyer Ram Jethmalani argued for Kanimozhi and blamed Raja for the wrongs attributed to her - he said she had neither signed any documents nor handled affairs of the television company.
Kanimozhi had on one occasion remarked that "my misfortune is that I am Karunanidhi's daughter and an MP. I have 20 per cent shares in Kalaignar TV. Show me one overt act of mine which relates to the offence."
The CBI, on the other hand, has been opposing her bail saying her "complicity" in the alleged bribe given to Kalaignar TV in the 2G scam is clear. "The transactions are nothing but the transfer of bribe money to Kalaignar TV. Kumar (MD of the channel) alone cannot be held responsible when a family is having the controlling shares," special public prosecutor U U Lalit had said.
(With PTI inputs)