A father goes to prison to meet daughter,she sits by his feet

Prison authorities said Kanimozhi,who was brought to the prison from the court at around 4.45 pm,was eagerly waiting for her family. “She knew her parents and family were coming,and she kept asking where they would meet,and how soon they were expected,” said an official.

Karunanidhi had arrived in Delhi from Chennai earlier in the day. Tihar officials said they received the formal request for the family meeting at around 5 pm,and at 5.30 pm,he had been driven into the prison compound through gate number 4,past the D-G’s office,as crowds of reporters and camerapersons waited at gate 6.

Karunanidhi was accompanied by his wife and Kanimozhi’s mother Rajathi Ammal,Kanimozhi’s husband Aravindan,and their son Aditya.

“There were four chairs,but I saw Kanimozhi enter and seat herself near her father’s feet. He embraced her. Kanimozhi was not crying loudly,but there were tears. She hugged her son and mother. Kanimozhi’s mother was sobbing,and Karunanindhi patted his daughter on the head. He was emotional,but did not seem to be crying,” said a prison official who witnessed the reunion.

The meeting,which according to officials lasted around 15-20 minutes,was organised in a room called the deodi,located at the entrance of the women’s jail,and which is used as a deputy superintendent’s office.

“Since Mr Karunanidhi is wheelchair-bound,we organised the meeting on the ground floor,so he would not have to climb any stairs,” said Neeraj Kumar,Director General,Prisons. The official mulaquat room is on the first floor of the building,Kumar added.

After the meeting with Kanimozhi,Karunanidhi met with former telecom minister A Raja and Kalaignar TV CEO Sharad Kumar,Kanimozhi’s co-accused in the 2G scam,for 15 minutes in the same room,officials said. The meeting was “formal”.

No prison officials were inside the room when Karunanidhi was meeting Kanimozhi.

Requests from several DMK MPs,including T R Baalu,and former TN ministers Durai Murugan and K Ponmudi,to accompany the family to meet Kanimozhi were turned down. “We told them that only family members would be allowed,” Kumar said.

After the meetings,Karunanidhi left the jail by the same gate he had used to enter the complex. He sat in the back seat of his car with Rajathi Ammal,who has been camping in Delhi and had met Kanimozhi in court on Saturday,and Aditya. Aravindan sat in front. Karunanidhi was originally scheduled to return to Chennai later in the evening,but stayed on in Delhi for the night.

In jail,Kanimozhi had dinner and watched TV for a while,officials said. DMK leaders said her step-brother M K Stalin might visit her on Tuesday,but Tihar officials said they had no intimation. Karunanidhi’s elder son M K Alagiri’s wife Kanthi and their son met Kanimozhi in court today.

Earlier in the day,lawyers for Kanimozhi moved Delhi High Court challenging the trial court’s order denying her bail. She had been wrongfully prevented from exercising her option of moving for protection against arrest,Kanimozhi pleaded.

“By issuance of summons the petitioner was made to believe that she would not be arrested and thus,precluded from moving an application for grant of anticipatory bail. In such circumstances,arrest of the petitioner would amount to depriving the petitioner of a valuable right to apply for anticipatory bail…,” her bail application said.

Kanimozhi contended that all accusations against her were baseless,and that “she has been falsely implicated due to biased media reporting concocted on the basis of conjectures and surmises”.

She submitted that as an MP,she would not flee from justice or tamper with evidence or interfere with the course of the trial. “She has to attend Parliament sessions and all party meetings convened from time to time,in connection with parliamentary business,” the plea said.

The court is expected to take up the application for hearing on Tuesday.