2G scam: Kanimozhi appears in CBI court

NEW DELHI, INDIA: DMK MP Kanimozhi on Friday appeared before a special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court in connection with 2G spectrum allotment scandal in which she has been named co-accused. Managing Director of Kalaignar TV Sharad Kumar also appeared in court.

Though she said earlier that she would not apply for bail, according to reports, she has moved a bail application in the special CBI Court to avoid being arrested in the 2G spectrum case.

Kanimozhi, who was named as co-conspirator in the supplementary chargesheet of the CBI, looked calm and composed as she arrived at the court of special judge O.P. Saini at Patiala House. She was accompanied by several MPs of her DMK party.

All the 14 named in the first and supplementary chargesheets of the CBI in the 2G scam were supposed to appear before the court on Friday, but Karim Morani of Cineyug Films got an exemption as he is admitted in Mumbai's Lilavati Hospital. His bail application will be heard May 10.

Among those present in court were DMK MP and former communications minister A. Raja, who is currently lodged in jail, as well as Vinod Goenka of Swan Telecom, Sanjay Chandra of Unitech and three officials of Reliance ADAG: Gautam Doshi, Hari Nair and Surendra Pipara.

Dayalu Ammal listed as a witness

Others chargesheeted by the CBI - Raja's personal aide R.K. Chandolia, former telecom secretary Siddhartha Behura and Swan Telecom promoter Shahid Balwa - were also in court. Karunanidhi's wife Dayalu Ammal was listed as a witness.

A sitting Rajya Sabha member, Kanimozhi was named co-conspirator along with Sharad Kumar, Morani, and Asif Balwa and Rajiv B. Agarwal of Kusegaon Realty.

Among the accused, Raja, Chandolia, Behura, Shahid Balwa, Asif Balwa, Agarwal, Goenka, Chandra, Doshi, Nair and Pipara are in judicial custody.

The case relates to alleged irregularities in the allocation of airwaves to telecom operators that caused huge losses to the national exchequer.