2G judge denies bail

Apart from Kanimozhi,judge O P Saini rejected the bail applications of Asif Balwa (director,Kusegaon Fruits and Vegetables),Rajiv Aggarwal (director,Kusegaon Fruits and Vegetables),Karim Morani (director,Cineyug Media & Entertainment), Sharad Kumar (director,Kalaignar TV),Shahid Usman Balwa (managing director,Swan Telecom),Siddhartha Behura (former telecom secretary),and R K Chandolia (private secretary to former minister for communications and information technology A Raja).

In his 76-page order,judge Saini came down heavily on the defence’s as well as the prosecution’s attempts to distinguish between different groups of accused. The order said that the accused should be kept in jail to ensure the protection of prosecution witnesses,suggesting that they could move for bail again after the prosecution completes the recording of evidence.

The judge entered the courtroom at 10.50 in the morning,even as the eight applicants were approaching the bench by negotiating the crowd that occupied every inch of available space. The proceedings were scheduled to start at 10 am,and the delay only raised levels of suspense and anticipation and swelled the crowd.

Saini did not attempt to cushion the news with a preface. “All bail applications dismissed. Adjourned till 11th November,” he said,before leaving the courtroom. Confusion reigned; even lawyers were seen approaching court staff for clarifications.

The presence of DMK member and actress Kushboo in the courtroom did not take the spotlight off Kanimozhi as she returned to her usual spot: the seat close to the wall in the second row to the right of the judge.

With all eyes on her,the daughter of the former Tamil Nadu chief minister kept her composure. Smile on her face,she broke the news to an assortment of people who had come in the hope of ushering her out of jail.

She embraced her son and kissed his forehead when he arrived with husband Aravindan,and lost her cool only when some journalists started taking notes on what a member of the family was talking about. “Please do not write about this. This is a private matter,” she said.

The judge was at his scathing best when it came to Kanimozhi who,along with Karim Morani,had applied for bail under the first provisio to Section 437 of the Criminal Procedure Code which allows bail if the applicant is under 16,or a woman,or sick or infirm.

The judge noted that the exemption is extended to women as they are generally considered an exploited section of the society. However,he said,Kanimozhi didn’t qualify for the same: “….whether these beneficial factors are available to accused Karim Morani and Kanimozhi Karunanithi (sic.) in this case? The answer to the question is an emphatic ‘No’…. Accused Kanimozhi Karunanithi belongs to upper echelons of the society and is also a member of Parliament. By no stretch of imagination she can be said to be suffering from any discrimination on ground of being a woman alone.”

The judge also rejected Morani’s applications under CrPC 437,noting that his “standard of illness” is not so high that being in custody will be detrimental to his health.

Judge Saini threw out a distinction the prosecution had come up with while telling the court that it does not oppose bail for five of the eight applicants. Special Public Prosecutor U U Lalit had argued that substantial charges against those five — all named in the supplementary chargesheet — would invite only up to five years in jail.

The judge said that it was wrong to distinguish between the accused named in the first and second chargesheets,as they are part of the same case. He also said that there was no difference between the accused as all have been charged with conspiracy to commit offences like criminal breach of trust,cheating and forgery.

“The theory of the accused not being known to each other and these five applicants/accused only being concerned with the passing of/facilitating the transfer of bribe amount of Rs 200 crore from M/s DB Realty Limited to M/s Kalaignar TV (P) Limited has already been rejected and all have been charged with the main/umbrella conspiracy.”

After the judge had passed his order,Kanimozhi talked to A Raja’s wife Parameswari — Raja was not in court as he was not one of the applicants — and Lok Sabha member from the DMK T K S Elangovan,among others.

Later,her mother Rajathi Ammal went to meet her after all except the close relatives and lawyers had been asked to exit.