NEW DELHI: A special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court on Friday ordered “forthwith” arrest of DMK MP Kanimozhi and Kalaignar TV MD Sharad Kumar after rejecting their bail pleas in the 2G spectrum case.
“The bail applications are dismissed. Both the accused be taken into custody forthwith,” Special CBI Judge O P Saini said.
The court directed that 43-year-old Kanimozhi and Kumar should be produced before it at 10 am tomorrow, when the case comes up for hearing.
The DMK MP, wearing an orange salwar suit, looked stunned after the CBI judge pronounced his order and was consoled by her family members, including her husband Aravindan.
DMK leaders, including its parliamentary party chief T R Baalu, was present in the court.
Minutes after the court pronounced its order, some of DMK supporters broke down while others were seen making frantic calls.
Kanimozhi’s lawyer Ram Jethmalani told Times Now that she would appeal in the High Court.
Top DMK leaders went into a huddle at the residence of party chief M Karunanidhi in the wake of a Delhi Court rejecting the bail plea of his daughter Kanimozhi in the 2G spectrum case today.
Senior leaders rushed to the CIT Colony residence of Karunanidhi and Kanimozhi soon after news broke out about the the court verdict.
Stating that the court ruling to deny bail to DMK MP Kanimozhi was “not unexpected”, political commentator Cho Ramaswamy said Friday that the development had taken place because the case was being monitored by the Supreme Court.
Talking about the verdict, he said: “This is something which was not unexpected as it has been in the court for quite some time because of adjournment and including Kanimozhi everybody would be expecting it.”
The court in its 144-page order said that most of the witnesses against the DMK MP are the employees of Kalaignar TV and hence the possibility of they being influenced cannot be ruled out.
“Considering the magnitude of the crime and the fact that many of the witnesses are employees of Kalaignar TV, there is every apprehension that the witnesses may be influenced, if the accused are released on bail,” the CBI judge said.
The court also considered the “enormity” of the offence while rejecting the bail of Kanimozhi and Sharad Kumar.
“Considering the magnitude of the crime, nature and enormity of the allegations, character of evidence on record and the apprehension that the witnesses may be influenced in case the accused are released on bail, I have no hesitation in holding that both applicants/accused have failed to make out a prima facie case for bail. Bail applications are without merit and the same are dismissed,” the judge said.
The court, however, clarified that its observations were “tentative” and they do not express any opinion on the merits of the case.
The CBI had chargesheeted Kanimozhi on April 25, for her alleged role in the 2G spectrum allocation scam. It had indicted her for taking a bribe to the tune of Rs 200 crore, which was routed to Kalaignar TV, in which she has 20 percent stake. The agency claimed that Kanimozhi lobbied for A Raja to become a Union Cabinet minister.
The money was routed to the TV channel by DB Realty of Shahid Usman Balwa, who was of one of the beneficiaries of the 2G spectrum allocation scam, with his another firm, Swan Telecom, securing the 2G spectrum licence during the tenure of former Telecom Minister A Raja of her party.
