CBI does not oppose bail for Kanimozhi,4 others

Following the CBI’s submission that it wouldn’t oppose bail to five of the accused — Kanimozhi,Asif Balwa (director,Kusegaon Fruits and Vegetables),Rajiv Aggarwal (director,Kusegaon Fruits and Vegetables),Karim Morani (director,Cineyug Media & Entertainment) and Sharad Kumar (director,Kalaignar TV) — the court reserved its order on their bail pleas for November 3. The agency’s move itself will not ensure bail however,as it is at the discretion of the court.

At the same time,the agency today opposed the bail applications of R K Chandolia,former private secretary to A Raja,and Shahid Usman Balwa (managing director,Swan Telecom).

Special Public Prosecutor U U Lalit chose not to consider the “umbrella charge” that the court had levelled together against all the 17 accused. The accused were charged with conspiracy to commit criminal breach of trust,forgery,cheating,using a forged document as genuine and under different sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act,1988.

Instead,Lalit concentrated on the subsequent sections of the order,which charged each accused separately for their substantial offence — meaning the offence they actually committed apart from being involved in the conspiracy to commit it.

On the basis of this,the prosecutor split the seven bail applications before the court into groups of five and two. The CBI’s logic for not opposing the bail pleas of Kanimozhi and four others was that the specific charges against them did not invite more than five years’ imprisonment and their offences were bailable.

Defence counsel,who were expecting the CBI to oppose all bail applications citing the grievous charge of criminal breach of trust,could be seen congratulating each other with thumbs-up signs even as the CBI lawyer was delivering his closing arguments.

A Kanimozhi aide was seen passing on a candy bar to her son with the words,“Give it to Amma when she comes” (Kanimozhi was near the bench at the time). Kanimozhi’s mother Rajathi Ammal came to the court around 3 pm,and could be seen talking to relatives of the other accused.

It was on the basis of the same line of reasoning — of the quantum of punishment invited by the charges — that the CBI opposed bail pleas of Chandolia and Shahid Balwa. Their alleged offences are punishable with a seven-year imprisonment.

“There are seven bail applications before the court. Two of them,A-3 (Chandolia) and A-4 (Shahid Balwa),let us put them in a different heading. The five others — A-13 to A-17 — in a separate basket. They are essentially named in the supplementary chargesheet,” said Lalit in his opening remarks.

Of the five whose bail pleas will not be opposed,all except Kanimozhi have also been charged under Section 193 of the IPC (creating false evidence),which carries an imprisonment of three years.

CBI sources said the prosecution had not focused on the umbrella charge as that was the normal practice during bail hearings,where individual charges against the accused are considered. The umbrella charge,which deals with conspiracy and talks of joint liability,will take precedence during trial.

Apart from the umbrella charge,Chandolia has been charged under Section 13(2) read with 13(1)(d) of the Prevention of Corruption Act,read with 120-B of the IPC. These sections deal with criminal misconduct by a public servant,and involve punishment not less than one year extendable to seven years.

Shahid Balwa,on the other hand,has been charged with conspiracy to cheat and create false evidence,and under Section 12 of the Prevention of Corruption Act read with Section 7,or alternatively,Section 11. The maximum punishment possible for him is seven years.

The bail application of five other accused is pending before the Supreme Court. The court will hear arguments on the bail applications of the three Reliance ADA Group Executives — Gautam Doshi,Surendra Pipara and Hari Nair — on October 31. Swan Telecom Director Vinod Goenka and Unitech Wireless Director Sanjay Chandra have also applied for bail before the apex court.

The special CBI court at the Patiala House courts complex is also scheduled to hear additional arguments on Chandolia’s and Shahid Balwa’s bail applications on October 31. It is also scheduled to hear arguments on Siddhartha Behura’s bail plea on November 1,which means that A Raja will remain the only accused who has not applied for bail.

On Monday,judge Saini was also scheduled to hear arguments on Subramanian Swamy’s application asking for bringing in then finance minister and current Home Minister P Chidambaram as co-accused,but deferred the matter to November 8.