IANS/New Delhi


Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam MP Kanimozhi will continue to remain in jail as the Delhi High Court yesterday rejected her bail application in the multi-billion dollar telecom scam.
Judge Ajit Bharihoke also rejected the bail plea of Sharad Kumar, the managing director of  Kalaignar TV, owned by the family of DMK chief and Kanimozhi’s father M Karunanidhi.
The judge said Kanimozhi “belongs to the same political party to which accused and former telecom minister A Raja belongs and the said party is sharing power in the central government.
“Considering the financial and political clout of the petitioners, a 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.”
The court said that the facts and circumstances show that the petitioners received illegal gratification of Rs2bn in the account of Kalaignar TV, controlled by them.
“The proximity of dates on which the money got transferred via circuitous route involving DB Realty Group Companies, Kusegaon Fruits and Vegetables Pvt Ltd and Cineyug Films Pvt Ltd as also the reverse trail of money prima facie cannot be a coincidence,” the court said.
“This gives rise to a prima facie involvement that aforesaid methodology was adopted by them and their co-accused persons with a view to conceal the trail of money from DB Realty Group, which owns Swan Telecom Pvt Ltd and Unitech Group of Companies, in the matter of grant of UAS Licences and spectrum, which have caused a loss of about Rs30,000 (Rs300bn) to the state exchequer,” the court said.
Kanimozhi’s mother Rajathi Ammal and DMK MP T R Baalu were present in the court. When the judge pronounced the order, Rajathi Ammal’s eyes turned teary.
Kanimozhi is likely to challenge the verdict in the Supreme Court, her legal team said.
Kanimozhi and Kumar have been in the Tihar Jail since May 20 when a special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court dismissed their bail pleas.
They appealed against the special court order in the Delhi High Court on May 23.
“The petitioners are in control of Kalaignar TV Pvt Ltd... they are in a position of power to influence the witnesses, particularly the employees of their company. They have got strong political connections,” the judge said.
The CBI named Kanimozhi and Kumar as co-conspirators in its April 25 supplementary charge-sheet after it traced an illegal money trail of Rs2bn to Kalaignar TV.
The supplementary charge-sheet also named Cineyug Films founder Karim Morani and Asif Balwa and Rajiv B Aggarwal of Kusegaon Fruits and Vegetables Pvt Ltd.
Other co-accused in Tihar Jail are Raja, his aide R K Chandolia, former telecom secretary Siddharth Behura, Swan Telecom promoter Shahid Usman Balwa, Swan Telecom director Vinod Goenka, Unitech Wireless’s Sanjay Chandra and three executives of the Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group - Gautam Doshi, Hari Nair and Surendra Pipara.
Meanwhile, officials of India’s economic intelligence agencies yesterday briefed the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) on their investigations into the alleged financial irregularities in the allotment of the telecom licences.
The JPC, examining India’s telecom licence pricing policy from 1998 to 2008, was briefed by Enforcement Directorate (ED) chief Arun Mathur and other officials of the finance ministry.
The ED, which enforces foreign exchange regulations and prevents money laundering, estimates violations to the tune of over $40bn by telecom firms that got the second generation (2G) telecom licences allegedly at throwaway prices in 2008.
Officials of the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) of the finance ministry also briefed the JPC separately about their probe. The DRI is examining the share holding patterns of telecom firms.