Kanimozhi's last hope, SC to hear bail plea today

Kanimozhi's last hope, SC to hear bail plea today

A special Supreme Court bench will on Monday hear the bail plea of DMK MP Kanimozhi and Kalaignar TV MD Sharad Kumar in the 2G spectrum scam case after two of the judges recused from hearing the matter. 

Kanimozhi is likely to face some tough time in convincing the court to grant her bail as the case will be heard by a bench headed by Justice G S Singvi, who has been monitoring the case since the beginning and had asked searching questions to the government on the role of several influential people in the multi-crore scam.

It would be the last hope for DMK chief M Karunanidhi's 43-year-old daughter Kanimozhi, who has been in jail for almost a month, after her plea was rejected first by the special CBI court and then by the Delhi High Court.

Kanimozhi and Kumar have been accused by the CBI to be involved in the illegal transaction of Rs 200 crore to Kalaignar TV which was alleged to be a bribe given by a telecom operator which had benefited in the scam.

The CBI in its affidavit filed in the apex court opposed their bail pleas on the ground that if released, they could tamper with evidence and influence witnesses.

Earlier two judges -- P Sathasivam and A K Patnaik -- before whom the matter was listed had recused themselves from the high-profile case.

Instead, Justice Singhvi, whose bench has been monitoring the case, will tomorrow hold a special hearing along with Justice B S Chauhan to decide the bail.

According to informed sources, justices P Sathasivam and A K Patnaik conveyed their decision to recuse to Chief Justice S H Kapadia, following which he constituted another bench.

Opposing the bail plea, the probe agency contended in its affidavit that Kanimozhi and Kumar were key conspirators and Rs 200 crore transferred to Kalaignar TV was part of the "bribe" amount and not a loan as claimed by the accused.

The central agency submitted the special CBI court and later the Delhi High Court carefully evaluated material evidence and other factors to refuse bail to them.

The apex court had on 13^th June agreed to hear their bail plea and asked CBI to explain where the Rs 200 crore, allegedly diverted to DMK-owned Kalaignar TV in 2G scam, has gone and also to file a response on their bail pleas in a week's time.

The court had also asked CBI to come out with a status report on the loss to the state exchequer due to the award of 13 licences to one of the telecom operators and trial proceedings in the CBI special court.

Kanimozhi and Kumar had moved the apex court seeking bail on 10^th June challenging the Delhi High Court verdict that rejected their bail on the ground that they have strong political connections and the possibility of them influencing witnesses cannot be ruled out.