By IANS,
New Delhi: The Supreme Court will hear Monday the bail pleas of DMK leader Kanimozhi and Kalaignar TV chief Sharad Kumar, accused in the 2G spectrum allocation case.
Kanimozhi, the 43-year-old daughter of DMK chief M. Karunanidhi and the party’s Rajya Sabha member, and Kumar approached the apex court after the Delhi High Court dismissed their bail applications June 8.
A vacation bench of Justices B.S. Chauhan and Justice Swatanter Kumar will take up the matter Monday.
Their bail application is listed as item no. 16 for Monday.
The high court rejected the plea saying “petitioner Kanimozhi belongs to the same political party to which accused and former communications minister A. Raja belongs and the said party is sharing power in the central government.”
“Considering the financial and political clout of Kanimozhi and Kumar, the possibility cannot be ruled out that if they are freed at this stage, they would interfere with the investigation or try to influence the witnesses,” said the court.
The court also said that the facts and circumstances prima facie show that the petitioners received illegal gratification of Rs.200 crore in the account of Kalaignar TV, controlled by them.
Kanimozhi and Kumar, named as co-conspirator in the supplementary charge sheet for allegedly taking a bribe of Rs.200 crore, were arrested May 20 after the special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court dismissed their bail pleas in the case.
Both have 20 percent stake each in Kalaignar TV, which allegedly received Rs.200 crore through a “circuitous” route from Swan Telecom Promoter Shahid Usman Balwa, who is among the 14 people jailed in the case.
CBI Special Judge O.P. Saini had May 20 rejected their bail pleas and ordered their arrest “forthwith”.
They are currently in Tihar Jail.
Karunanidhi’s wife Dayalu Ammal, who has been left out of the list of accused, owns the remaining 60 percent shares in the channel.
The CBI’s first chargesheet April 2 named Raja, former telecom secretary Siddhartha Behura, Raja’s aide R.K. Chandolia, Shahid Usman Balwa, Swan Telecom director Vonod Goenka, Unitech Wireless’s Sanjay Chandra and three executives of the Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group – Gautam Doshi, Hari Nair and Surendra Pipara.
The supplementary chargesheet also named Cineyug Films founder Karim Morani and Asif Balwa and Rajiv B. Aggarwal of Kusegaon Fruits and Vegetables Private Limited.