Relief in DMK camp over Kanimozhi court hearing
Chennai, May 7 (IANS) Tamil Nadu's ruling DMK Saturday heaved a sigh of relief with the special CBI court reserving for May 14 its decision on the bail plea of the party's Rajya Sabha Member Kanimozhi, charged as co-conspirator in the 2G spectrum allocation case.
Kanimozhi is the daughter of DMK president and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi and is being investigated by the Central Bureau of Investigation and the Enforcemnt Directorate inthe 2G spectrum scam case.
"For the past couple of days there was tension among party leaders and cadres. It is natural. Now the tension is being carried forward for the future," DMK spokesperson T.K.S. Elangovan, who is an MP, told IANS.
Interestingly, results of the April 13 assembly polls will be declared on May 13, a day before Kanimozhi's bail petition is heard in New Delhi.
Kanimozhi was named co-conspirator along with Sharad Kumar, managing director and promoter of Kalaignar TV Pvt Ltd and others by the CBI. Both Kanimozhi and Sharad Kumar will have to mark their attendance at the court till the next hearing May 14.
Chennai-based Kalaignar TV, which runs a bouquet of Tamil channels, is promoted by Karunanidhi's second wife M.K. Dayalu, daughter Kanimozhi and Sharad Kumar.
Dayalu owns 60 percent of the company's Rs.10 crore equity and the balance is shared equally between Kanimozhi and Sharad Kumar.
The other three charged with Kanimozhi and Sharad Kumar were, Karim Morani of Cineyug Films, and Asif Balwa and Rajiv B. Agarwal of Kusegaon Realty.
The CBI charge sheeted Kanimozhi and Sharad Kumar as co-conspirators after it traced Rs.214 crore as an illegal money trail.
The money trail moved from Dynamix to Kusegaon and then on to Cineyug, all part of the DB Group that promoted Swan Telecom, ending with Kalaignar TV that gets its name from how Karunanidhi is popularly called - a scholar.
The channel company had earlier stated that the Rs.214 crore was a loan and paid back with interest.
Meanwhile, Elangovan reiterated that the DMK is not dumping its MP and former communications Minister A. Raja, charged by the CBI as the main conspirator in the 2G spectrum scam.
"The DMK has not changed its stance on Raja," he stressed.
Speaking to IANS a senior advocate on the condition of anonymity said: "Jail is an exception and bail is the rule. The CBI must have seized the relevant documents in support of their charge. The proof/witness is the documents which CBI has seized. If Kanimozhi agrees to abide by the conditions laid down by the court, then there is every possibility that she could be granted bail."
Asked to react to Kanimozhi's defence that she is just a shareholder and not connected with the day-to-day management of the company, he said: "I don't think it is a valid reason. The company has just three shareholders and it is family owned. Nobody would believe she was unaware of what is going inside the company."
He said Kalaignar TV has a capital of only Rs.10 crore but the funds that have come into the company in several tranches is over Rs.200 crore.