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Bail Plea of Kanimozhi, Six Others to be Heard Today
Monday, 24 October 2011, 16:00 IST
New Delhi: The special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court at Patiala House will today hear the bail pleas of Rajya Sabha MP Kanimozhi and six others - Sharad Kumar, MD, Kalaignar TV; R K Chandolia, former Personal Secretary to A Raja; Rajiv Aggarwal and Asif Balwa, Directors, Kusegaon Fruits and Vegetables; Shahid Balwa, Promoter, D B Realty and Swan Telecom; and Karim Morani, Promoter, Cineyug Films - in the 2G scam.
On Saturday, a Delhi court headed by Judge OP Saini accepted all the charges levelled by the CBI against the 14 individuals and three companies - Reliance Telecom, Unitech Wireless and Swan Telecom - listed as principal players in the 2G scam. Now, former Telecom Minister A Raja, Kanimozhi and the executives of some of India's biggest telecoms will stand trial for criminal breach of trust - a charge that carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.
The CBI's charges against them range from criminal conspiracy to forgery and cheating. But the most serious charges in the case, controversially introduced by the CBI just a few weeks ago, are criminal breach of trust by a public servant for Mr Raja and Siddharth Behura, who was Telecom Secretary, and criminal conspiracy to cause criminal breach of trust by a public servant for the 12 others. The maximum sentence for these charges is life imprisonment.
Because the charges have been framed now, the 14 people accused have a better shot at leaving jail. All of them except Mr Raja have already applied for bail. CBI sources have said that the agency, which has opposed two petitions by Kanimozhi for bail in the past few months, may not fight her latest request. The agency, however, maintains that Kanimozhi is the active brain behind Kalaignar TV and 
200 cr was paid by Swan Telecom to Kalaignar TV through several subsidiaries as illegal gratification in return for 2G licenses and spectrum.
Meanwhile, Kanimozhi's father and DMK chief M Karunanidhi is still in Delhi. A key ally of the UPA, Mr Karunanidhi has been in the capital since Friday. He met with Congress President Sonia Gandhi and Prime minister Manmohan Singh. Karunanidhi's wife Rajathiammal was also present at these meetings.
Kanimozhi has been in jail since May 20 and denied bail by the trial court, the High Court and the Supreme Court.
The Rajya Sabha MP and DMK chief M Karunanidhi's daughter has sought bail on the following grounds:
* Supreme Court has given her the liberty to file a fresh bail application under Section 437 of CrPC (that shows leniency towards women) after framing of charges
* She has no role in the alleged conspiracy in allocation of 2G spectrum and licenses
* Neither she nor Kalaignar TV is a beneficiary of spectrum allocation
* She's a minority shareholder at Kalaignar TV; holds only 20 per cent equity; was a Director for only two weeks in 2007 before she resigned
* During her judicial custody, the CBI never sought her interrogation
* She's a qualified lady, a post graduate, a Member of Parliament
* The transfer of 200 crore from Swan Telecom to Kalaignar TV was a genuine loan, duly returned with interest; this is borne out by documents
* As all relevant documents have already been collected by the CBI, there's no scope for any tampering with evidence
* No witness has given any statement implicating her, so there's no question of her influencing the witnesses
The telecom scam was webbed, according to the CBI, in 2008 by Mr Raja when he was Telecom Minister. He ignored advice, including from the Prime Minister, to auction second-generation or 2G spectrum. Instead, he allotted licenses and accompanying second-generation or 2G spectrum on a first-come-first-serve basis that were twisted to help companies Mr Raja allegedly conspired with. The minister set a deadline for filing applications in September 2008; in January 2010, he made a last-minute announcement that licenses would be given to those who filed their "Letters of Intent" first. The deadline for filing these documents and cheques was within hours of Mr Raja's revision of rules. A few companies like Swan and Unitech were ready with their cheques - the CBI believes they had been tipped off by the minister. And amid a fair amount of chaos, 122 licenses were issued to nine companies at a cost of 1600 crores each.
Source: PTI
200 cr was paid by Swan Telecom to Kalaignar TV through several subsidiaries as illegal gratification in return for 2G licenses and spectrum.
Meanwhile, Kanimozhi's father and DMK chief M Karunanidhi is still in Delhi. A key ally of the UPA, Mr Karunanidhi has been in the capital since Friday. He met with Congress President Sonia Gandhi and Prime minister Manmohan Singh. Karunanidhi's wife Rajathiammal was also present at these meetings.
Kanimozhi has been in jail since May 20 and denied bail by the trial court, the High Court and the Supreme Court.
The Rajya Sabha MP and DMK chief M Karunanidhi's daughter has sought bail on the following grounds:
* Supreme Court has given her the liberty to file a fresh bail application under Section 437 of CrPC (that shows leniency towards women) after framing of charges
* She has no role in the alleged conspiracy in allocation of 2G spectrum and licenses
* Neither she nor Kalaignar TV is a beneficiary of spectrum allocation
* She's a minority shareholder at Kalaignar TV; holds only 20 per cent equity; was a Director for only two weeks in 2007 before she resigned
* During her judicial custody, the CBI never sought her interrogation
* She's a qualified lady, a post graduate, a Member of Parliament
* The transfer of 200 crore from Swan Telecom to Kalaignar TV was a genuine loan, duly returned with interest; this is borne out by documents
* As all relevant documents have already been collected by the CBI, there's no scope for any tampering with evidence
* No witness has given any statement implicating her, so there's no question of her influencing the witnesses
The telecom scam was webbed, according to the CBI, in 2008 by Mr Raja when he was Telecom Minister. He ignored advice, including from the Prime Minister, to auction second-generation or 2G spectrum. Instead, he allotted licenses and accompanying second-generation or 2G spectrum on a first-come-first-serve basis that were twisted to help companies Mr Raja allegedly conspired with. The minister set a deadline for filing applications in September 2008; in January 2010, he made a last-minute announcement that licenses would be given to those who filed their "Letters of Intent" first. The deadline for filing these documents and cheques was within hours of Mr Raja's revision of rules. A few companies like Swan and Unitech were ready with their cheques - the CBI believes they had been tipped off by the minister. And amid a fair amount of chaos, 122 licenses were issued to nine companies at a cost of 1600 crores each.
Source: PTI