New Delhi, Nov 3 (IANS) The bail pleas of DMK MP Kanimozhi and seven others accused in the 2G spectrum allotment scam were Thursday dismissed by a CBI special court here. They will continue to be lodged in Tihar Jail.
Special CBI Judge O.P. Saini said: ‘All the bail applications are dismissed. The court will begin its trial from Nov 11.’
Saini had earlier reserved the order on the bail pleas of Kanimozhi, Swan Telecom promoter Shahid Usman Balwa, former communications minister A. Raja’s ex-private secretary R.K. Chandolia, Kalaignar TV chief Sharad Kumar, directors of Kusegaon Fruits & Vegetables Pvt Limited Asif Balwa and Rajiv B. Agarwal, Bollywood producer Karim Morani and former telecom secretary Siddhartha Behura.
All of them were present in court Thursday when they were refused bail.
The CBI had preferred not to oppose the bail pleas of Kanimozhi and four others on the ground that they faced specific charges, apart from the ‘umbrella section’ of 120-B (criminal conspiracy) IPC, which entail five years sentence as maximum punishment.
The agency has also slapped charges of criminal breach of trust under Section 409 of the IPC which carries life term as maximum punishment, against Kanimozhi and four others.
The agency, however, had opposed the bail pleas of Shahid Balwa, Chandolia and Behura.
Regarding Shahid Balwa and Chandolia, special public prosecutor U.U. Lalit had told the court that they should be denied bail as maximum punishment for the specific charges levelled against them was seven years.
