New Delhi, Nov 3 (IANS) A CBI Special Court Thursday denied bail to 2G scam accused DMK MP Kanimozhi and seven others, in a stunning verdict that reduced her, her mother and family members of others to tears.
Unable to digest the fact that she would have to return to the Tihar Jail when she was expecting to be freed, Kanimozhi, 43, broke down when she saw her mother and DMK chief M. Karunanidhi’s wife Rajathai Ammal cry.
‘Don’t cry …,’ Kanimozhi whispered to her mother in Tamil as the mother held her daughter’s arm. Kanimozhi smiled meekly at her 11-year-old son as her husband Aravindan looked despondent.
Some of the DMK leaders present in the packed court rook became emotional too. In Chennai, Karunanidhi, who was preparing to welcome his daughter at the airport, decided to confine himself in his house.
Dismissing Kanimozhi’s and the others’ plea, CBI Special Judge O.P. Saini said: ‘All the bail applications are dismissed. The court will begin trial from Nov 11.’
Although the CBI did not oppose the bail plea of Kanimozhi and four others, Judge Saini said that ‘a strong message’ had to be sent to ‘these white collared criminals … (that) it does not pay to be on the wrong side of the law’.
He said the charges against the accused in the second generation spectrum allocation scam were of ‘very serious nature having grave implications for the economy’.
The judge added that Kanimozhi deserved no special treatment as a woman and the accused did not deserve sympathy either because they had acted in a calculated manner to make personal gains.
The verdict drew widespread condemnation from within the legal fraternity. Senior criminal lawyer Ram Jethmalani called it ‘a betrayal of justice’.
The ruling came close to noon at the Patiala House court complex where expectations ran high that at least a majority of the accused would get to walk free as the CBI had moderated its earlier no-bail stand.
Within minutes the atmospherics changed.
When the judge gave his order, Kanimozhi, dressed in a fuchsia-pink salwar kameez, could not hear clearly what was said. She turned to her lawyer who replied the ruling was not what they had expected.
As the cameras clicked her outside the court premises, Kanimozhi could be heard referring to the words ‘white collared criminals’ while walking with her husband and co-accused Sharad Kumar.
The other seven whose bail applications were dismissed were: Swan Telecom promoter Shahid Usman Balwa, former communications minister A. Raja’s then private secretary R.K. Chandolia, Kalaignar TV chief Sharad Kumar, directors of Kusegaon Fruits and Vegetables Pvt Ltd Asif Balwa and Rajiv B. Agarwal, Bollywood producer Karim Morani, and former telecom secretary Siddhartha Behura.
The CBI had not opposed the bail pleas of Kanimozhi, Sharad Kumar, Asif Balwa, Agarwal and Morani.
The judge said Morani’s illness was not ‘so high’ that he deserved to be released. The daughters of Morani and Chandolia and the wives of Sharad Kumar, Shahid Usman Balwa, Asif Balwa and Agarwal wept openly. Shahid Balwa’s wife kept crying till he was taken away in a van back to prison.
Kanimozhi has been lodged in the Tihar Jail since May 20, charged by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) as a co-conspirator in the mega scam involving spectrum allocation.
This is the fourth time she has been refused bail. In Kanimozhi’s three earlier attempts for bail, including one heard by the Supreme Court, the CBI had contested her petitions.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) termed Thursday’s development a slap on the face of CBI. The Congress, a DMK ally, said the judgement was not the end of the road for Kanimozhi and others.
