Kanimozhi was "definitely close" to former communications minister A. Raja, the CBI on Saturday told the special court which reserved for a week its decision on the bail plea of the DMK MP, named a co-conspirator in the 2G spectrum allocation case.
Initiating the arguments, special public prosecutor U.U. Lalit said: "Sharad Kumar (managing director of Kalaignar TV) and Kanimozhi hold 20 per cent shares separately in Kalaignar TV. Other 60 per cent is held by Dayalu Ammal, Tamil Nadu chief minister M. Karunanidhi's wife. It is impossible to believe that Sharad is the operating mind behind Kalaignar TV, when Kanimozhi and Ammal, belonging to the same family, hold 80 per cent of the total shares in the channel."
"Kanimozhi was not made the director of Kalaignar TV because she did not get a clearance from the ministry of home affairs as a member of Parliament. But, she was an active brain behind all the channel operations, including the money transfers in the allocation of 2G spectrum," Lalit contended.
"Raja was definitely close to Kanimozhi, and not Sharad Kumar, because of which the money flowed into Kalaignar TV," the prosecutor argued as the case was being heard by special judge O.P. Saini. Meanwhile, the court also reserved its order on the bail plea of Sharad Kumar till May 14. Both Kanimozhi and Kumar will have to mark their attendance at the court till the next hearing. Accusing Sharad Kumar of being involved in the money transfers, the CBI prosecutor added: "Each and every document including the cheques, affidavit, and contract were signed by Sharad Kumar.
He attended all the board meetings and had the power to take decisions. In such a case, there is no doubt that Sharad and Kanimozhi were involved in the entire transaction." Senior lawyer Ram Jethmalani, arguing for Kanimozhi, had Friday denied Kanimozhi's association with Raja, who is in jail for his alleged role in the case.
"Even if we assume that Raja got transferred the Rs.200 crores bribe money from Dynamix Group to Kalaignar TV, no guilt is proved against me as I did not sign any document on behalf of the recipient TV channel," Jethmalani argued for Kanimozhi. The case involves award of telecom spectrum to private players, which the investigative agency says was done in a fraudulent manner, causing losses worth billions of rupees to the exchequer. The case took a serious turn after Raja, a leader of the DMK, resigned November 14 as communications minister. This was after the official auditor held that his policy on spectrum allocation had led to a loss of several billion rupees to the exchequer.