New Delhi:
Kanimozhi, daughter of DMK chief M Karunanidhi, broke down in court as it became clear that she would not leave jail today. Judge OP Saini who is handling the trial in the telecom scam dismissed her bail application, along with that of seven others. Trial will begin in the 2G case on November 11.
Kanimozhi wept as the judge passed his order; she was comforted by DMK leaders TR Baalu and TKS Elangovan who were next to her. Before the order, NDTV's reporters had met Kanimozhi and said she looked cheerful as she sat with her mother, husband and 11-year-old son. As the order was read out, Kanimozhi's mother Rajathiammal broke down too as did the daughters of Bollywood filmmaker Karim Morani and the wives of Kusegaon Fruits & Vegetables director Rajiv Aggarwal and Swan Telecom promoter Shahid Balwa. The three men were among those whose bail pleas were rejected today. The others are former Telecom Minister A Raja's former personal secretary RK Chandolia, Kalaignar TV MD Sharath Kumar and Kusegaon Fruits & Vegetables directors Asif Balwa.
In his order, the judge used strong language to underscore the gravity of the charges against those accused. (Read: What the judge said)
"Accused Kanimozhi belongs to upper echelons of the society and is also a member of Parliament," he said. Kanimozhi's lawyers had said that the law allows for bail in some circumstances for women, under-16s and those who are sick. "By no stretch of imagination Kanimozhi can be said to be suffering from any discrimination on the grounds of being a woman," said Judge Saini. (See court order on Kanimozhi, others)
Top DMK leaders, including actor-politician Khushboo, appeared shocked when Judge Saini announced that he had decided against bail. Kanimozhi's half-brother MK Stalin is in Delhi too; DMK sources said he was hoping to meet her because the party believed that she would head out of Tihar Jail later today. The fact that the CBI had told Judge Saini that it did not have objections to her bail had fuelled the DMK's optimism. Kanimozhi will appeal against today's verdict in the Delhi High Court. (Read: Charges against Kanimozhi)
This is the fourth time that Kanimozhi has been refused bail. She has been in jail since May 20 for allegedly helping fellow DMK member and former Telecom Minister A Raja accept a 214-crore kickback. Her arrest has damaged the health of the delicate relationship between her father and the Congress. With 16 Lok Sabha MPs, the DMK serves as a crucial link in the UPA coalition at the Centre. Sources in the DMK say that Mr Karunanidhi, who is in Chennai, is a shattered man. They said he was very upset with today's developments, but that his partnership with the Congress remains intact.
Heavy rain in Chennai this morning reflected the gloom in the DMK camp. A meeting of the party's national executive committee, made up of top leaders, is planned for mid-November, and sources say opinion is divided within on continuing with the alliance at the Centre. But analysts say since the only political trump that Karunanidhi now holds is his alliance at the Centre, today's developments, however shattering, are unlikely to make him break ties with the Congress. The DMK was soundly defeated in the Assembly elections held this year and in local body elections held recently. And a resurgent J Jayalalithaa, Karunanidhi's bete noir and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, has been turning on the heat.
Judge Saini explaining his decision emphasized that "the charges levelled against the accused are very serious in nature" and those who applied for bail "ruined the economy of the state." He said "their ultimate objective was to use public money in carefully planned manner for personal use with no right to do it."
A series of calculations by different experts and departments find that the telecom scam is India's greatest swindle. The CBI has estimated the losses caused to the country to be in the range of 30,000 crores. (Read: What is 2G scam?)
In Kanimozhi's three earlier attempts at bail, including one that was heard in the Supreme Court, the CBI had contested her petitions. The Supreme Court had advised her in June to wait till the charges were framed against her by Judge Saini, after which the Supreme Court said she could apply for bail again in Judge Saini's court.
That happened in October. Judge Saini accepted all charges leveled by the CBI against all 14 people arrested so far. Mr Raja, who was arrested in February, has been charged with criminal breach of trust by a public servant. So has former Telecom Secretary Siddharth Behura. The others have been accused of criminal conspiracy in trying to bribe a public servant. The charge comes with a maximum sentence of life imprisonment. Other charges range from cheating to forgery. (2G scam: Charges against Raja, others)
Of the 14 people in jail, Mr Raja alone has not applied for bail. He says he will leave Tihar Jail only after proving that the swindle he is accused of is fictitious.
This week, the Supreme Court expressed its concern that the CBI had told Judge Saini that it no longer opposes the bail for five of the 14 people in jail. That group consists of Kanimozhi, Sharath Kumar Asif Balwa, Rajeev Agarwal and Karim Morani.
The premise of the telecom scam is that in 2008, when he was Telecom Minister, Mr Raja twisted rules and policy to grant mobile network licenses and spectrum to companies who were not eligible. In one case - that of Swan Telecom, the CBI says it has evidence of a kickback paid to Mr Raja. The money - Rs. 214 crore - was deposited with a TV channel in Chennai which is co-owned by Kanimozhi and her stepmother.
Kanimozhi's lawyers have said that she served only briefly as a Director of Kalaignar TV, the channel that allegedly served as a front for Mr Raja's kickback; that the money was in any case a loan that was returned to Swan with interest, and that since the CBI has collected all relevant documents and no witness has testified against her, she can neither tamper with evidence nor try to influence testimony. In court, however, the CBI has described Kanimozhi as "the active brain" behind Kalaignar TV. While asking for bail, Kanimozhi's lawyers have said that Indian law (Section 437 of the Criminal Procedure Code) allows bail for those "under the age of 16, or (if the prisoner) is a woman, or is sick, or infirm." They have also said in court that because the CBI has collected all relevant documents in her case and nobody has testified against her, there is no question of her tampering with evidence or trying to influence witnesses.
Kanimozhi wept as the judge passed his order; she was comforted by DMK leaders TR Baalu and TKS Elangovan who were next to her. Before the order, NDTV's reporters had met Kanimozhi and said she looked cheerful as she sat with her mother, husband and 11-year-old son. As the order was read out, Kanimozhi's mother Rajathiammal broke down too as did the daughters of Bollywood filmmaker Karim Morani and the wives of Kusegaon Fruits & Vegetables director Rajiv Aggarwal and Swan Telecom promoter Shahid Balwa. The three men were among those whose bail pleas were rejected today. The others are former Telecom Minister A Raja's former personal secretary RK Chandolia, Kalaignar TV MD Sharath Kumar and Kusegaon Fruits & Vegetables directors Asif Balwa.
In his order, the judge used strong language to underscore the gravity of the charges against those accused. (Read: What the judge said)
"Accused Kanimozhi belongs to upper echelons of the society and is also a member of Parliament," he said. Kanimozhi's lawyers had said that the law allows for bail in some circumstances for women, under-16s and those who are sick. "By no stretch of imagination Kanimozhi can be said to be suffering from any discrimination on the grounds of being a woman," said Judge Saini. (See court order on Kanimozhi, others)
Top DMK leaders, including actor-politician Khushboo, appeared shocked when Judge Saini announced that he had decided against bail. Kanimozhi's half-brother MK Stalin is in Delhi too; DMK sources said he was hoping to meet her because the party believed that she would head out of Tihar Jail later today. The fact that the CBI had told Judge Saini that it did not have objections to her bail had fuelled the DMK's optimism. Kanimozhi will appeal against today's verdict in the Delhi High Court. (Read: Charges against Kanimozhi)
This is the fourth time that Kanimozhi has been refused bail. She has been in jail since May 20 for allegedly helping fellow DMK member and former Telecom Minister A Raja accept a 214-crore kickback. Her arrest has damaged the health of the delicate relationship between her father and the Congress. With 16 Lok Sabha MPs, the DMK serves as a crucial link in the UPA coalition at the Centre. Sources in the DMK say that Mr Karunanidhi, who is in Chennai, is a shattered man. They said he was very upset with today's developments, but that his partnership with the Congress remains intact.
Heavy rain in Chennai this morning reflected the gloom in the DMK camp. A meeting of the party's national executive committee, made up of top leaders, is planned for mid-November, and sources say opinion is divided within on continuing with the alliance at the Centre. But analysts say since the only political trump that Karunanidhi now holds is his alliance at the Centre, today's developments, however shattering, are unlikely to make him break ties with the Congress. The DMK was soundly defeated in the Assembly elections held this year and in local body elections held recently. And a resurgent J Jayalalithaa, Karunanidhi's bete noir and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, has been turning on the heat.
Judge Saini explaining his decision emphasized that "the charges levelled against the accused are very serious in nature" and those who applied for bail "ruined the economy of the state." He said "their ultimate objective was to use public money in carefully planned manner for personal use with no right to do it."
A series of calculations by different experts and departments find that the telecom scam is India's greatest swindle. The CBI has estimated the losses caused to the country to be in the range of 30,000 crores. (Read: What is 2G scam?)
In Kanimozhi's three earlier attempts at bail, including one that was heard in the Supreme Court, the CBI had contested her petitions. The Supreme Court had advised her in June to wait till the charges were framed against her by Judge Saini, after which the Supreme Court said she could apply for bail again in Judge Saini's court.
That happened in October. Judge Saini accepted all charges leveled by the CBI against all 14 people arrested so far. Mr Raja, who was arrested in February, has been charged with criminal breach of trust by a public servant. So has former Telecom Secretary Siddharth Behura. The others have been accused of criminal conspiracy in trying to bribe a public servant. The charge comes with a maximum sentence of life imprisonment. Other charges range from cheating to forgery. (2G scam: Charges against Raja, others)
Of the 14 people in jail, Mr Raja alone has not applied for bail. He says he will leave Tihar Jail only after proving that the swindle he is accused of is fictitious.
This week, the Supreme Court expressed its concern that the CBI had told Judge Saini that it no longer opposes the bail for five of the 14 people in jail. That group consists of Kanimozhi, Sharath Kumar Asif Balwa, Rajeev Agarwal and Karim Morani.
The premise of the telecom scam is that in 2008, when he was Telecom Minister, Mr Raja twisted rules and policy to grant mobile network licenses and spectrum to companies who were not eligible. In one case - that of Swan Telecom, the CBI says it has evidence of a kickback paid to Mr Raja. The money - Rs. 214 crore - was deposited with a TV channel in Chennai which is co-owned by Kanimozhi and her stepmother.
Kanimozhi's lawyers have said that she served only briefly as a Director of Kalaignar TV, the channel that allegedly served as a front for Mr Raja's kickback; that the money was in any case a loan that was returned to Swan with interest, and that since the CBI has collected all relevant documents and no witness has testified against her, she can neither tamper with evidence nor try to influence testimony. In court, however, the CBI has described Kanimozhi as "the active brain" behind Kalaignar TV. While asking for bail, Kanimozhi's lawyers have said that Indian law (Section 437 of the Criminal Procedure Code) allows bail for those "under the age of 16, or (if the prisoner) is a woman, or is sick, or infirm." They have also said in court that because the CBI has collected all relevant documents in her case and nobody has testified against her, there is no question of her tampering with evidence or trying to influence witnesses.
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