The Hindu : News / National : Bail denied, Kanimozhi sent to Tihar Jail
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Indian MP Kanimozhi arrested in telecoms scandal
She denies conspiracy and accepting bribes in the alleged mis-selling of telecoms licences, which auditors say cost the country about $40bn (£24.5bn).
A judge in the capital, Delhi, rejected her application for bail and she is due to be produced in court on Saturday.
Ms Kanimozhi, 43, is the daughter of M Karunanidhi, an important ally of the Congress-led federal government.
Her party colleague, former telecoms minister Andimuthu Raja, is already in jail in connection with the scandal.
He is accused of selling mobile telephony spectrum to firms at a fraction of their real value in exchange for bribes in 2008. He too denies all wrongdoing.
Along with Ms Kanimozhi, the court also rejected the bail application of a senior television executive.
"The bail applications are dismissed. Both the accused be taken into custody forthwith," news agency Press Trust of India quoted Judge OP Saini as saying.
Ms Kanimozhi's lawyer Ram Jethmalani said they would appeal in a higher court. Ms Kanimozhi has been charged under the Prevention of Corruption Act.
Prosecutors say she took a bribe of $47.6m (£29.3m) through Kalaignar TV - a channel run by the DMK party in the southern state of Tamil Nadu.
The issue of corruption has become a major talking point in India.
Mr Raja is on trial along with eight others, including two former civil servants. Several top company executives have also been arrested in connection with the so-called 2G case.
The telecoms scandal has badly damaged the reputation of the government, which has been hit by a series of corruption scandals.
India has the world's fastest growing mobile phone market, with about half a billion subscribers.
DMK Rajya Sabha member Kanimozhi and her fellow stakeholder in Kalaignar TV Sharad Kumar, who is also the network's managing director, on Friday were arrested and sent to the Tihar Central Jail here on judicial custody.
This followed rejection of their bail applications by the CBI Special Court, which is hearing the 2G spectrum allocation case.
Allegations “grave”
Denying bail, Special Judge O. P. Saini expressed apprehension that witnesses, who are Kalaignar TV employees, could be influenced, and that the allegations against the accused were “grave.”
“Considering the magnitude of the crime, the nature and enormity of the allegations, the character of evidence on record and the apprehension that witnesses may be influenced in case the accused are released on bail, I have no hesitation in holding that both applicants/accused have failed to make out a prima facie case for bail,” Mr. Saini said.
DMK workers and others, who accompanied Ms. Kanimozhi to the courtroom, broke down after the judge pronounced his order and called her and Mr. Kumar, who were until then seated in the courtroom, to come forward and stand on the dock.
As soon as the judge left the courtroom for his chamber, party workers and others huddled around Ms. Kanimozhi, even as she struggled to maintain her composure.
Ms. Kanimozhi and 11 other co-accused in the case were then led to the court lock-up, from where they were taken to the Tihar Jail.
DMK leaders, including T.R. Baalu, T.K.S. Elangovan and Poongothai Aladi Aruna, Kanimozhi's husband G. Aravindan and the former Union Telecom Minister, A. Raja's wife, M. A. Parameswari, were present in the courtroom.
For the next few nights, Kanimozhi will sleep on a concrete platform in a 10x15 foot
cell of Tihar's female ward 8 of jail number 6.
cell of Tihar's female ward 8 of jail number 6.
NEW DELHI: Dressed in an orange salwar suit,Kanimozhi stepped into Tihar Jail around 4.30pm on Friday after a Delhi court ordered her arrest "forthwith". Hours ago, outside the court she had told reporters: "I was expecting it."
Kanimozhi, former Tamil Nadu chief minister M Karunanidhi's daughter, was driven into the prison complex in a police van with other woman inmates returning from court.
For the next few nights, she will sleep on a concrete platform in a 10x15 foot cell of Tihar's female ward 8 jail number 6. She will be allowed a layer of blankets to use as cushion. First-time offenders are detained in this ward. For company, Kanimozhi will have a small TV set and some newspapers. Her neighbours: Alleged spy Madhuri Gupta and infamous pimp Sonu Punjaban.
A woman constable escorted the DMK MP to prison. But her sullenness disappeared the moment she got off the prison van as personnel from the Tamil Nadu Special Police surrounded her. "They chatted in Tamil for about 15 minutes and she smiled with them and asked them about their job," a jail source said.
Some DMK MPs, including T R Baalu, and her husband G Aravinthan came to meet her in the jail later. The DMK leader's cell has a small toilet, a fan, a TV set and light. Similar facilities have been given to other 2G accused including former telecom minister A Raja. Like the former telecom minister, she will be given south Indian food. Her clothes and bedding came from home. Asked to take off her jewellery, Kanimozhi was a picture of resignation as she complied. "As per jail rules, she was immediately made to undergo a medical examination after which she was taken to her cell. She was shown her cell after which she showered.
Kanimozhi used a toilet that only had a curtain. "The bathrooms are inside the cell and there is no wall. We string up curtains when the inmate has to go to the bathroom. This is regular," he said. Her dinner was chapatti, rice, subzi and dal. She ate inside her cell and the food was the same as given to other inmates. Kanimozhi, the prison official said, expressed concern over mosquitoes and asked if she would be provided a mosquito repellant. Kanimozhi also struck up a conversation with other woman prisoners, especially those from Tamil Nadu. But officials made it clear she won't be allowed to interact with any of the 2G accused lodged in jails 1, 3 and 4.
Kalaignar TV MD Sharad Kumar was sent to jail number 4 where former Commonwealth Gameschief organizer Suresh Kalmadi is also lodged. He was lodged in ward number 15 and also given bedsheets, a mattress, a TV, books and attached bathroom. "Medical tests were also conducted on him and he ate dinner but did not take a shower.
Kanimozhi, former Tamil Nadu chief minister M Karunanidhi's daughter, was driven into the prison complex in a police van with other woman inmates returning from court.
For the next few nights, she will sleep on a concrete platform in a 10x15 foot cell of Tihar's female ward 8 jail number 6. She will be allowed a layer of blankets to use as cushion. First-time offenders are detained in this ward. For company, Kanimozhi will have a small TV set and some newspapers. Her neighbours: Alleged spy Madhuri Gupta and infamous pimp Sonu Punjaban.
A woman constable escorted the DMK MP to prison. But her sullenness disappeared the moment she got off the prison van as personnel from the Tamil Nadu Special Police surrounded her. "They chatted in Tamil for about 15 minutes and she smiled with them and asked them about their job," a jail source said.
Some DMK MPs, including T R Baalu, and her husband G Aravinthan came to meet her in the jail later. The DMK leader's cell has a small toilet, a fan, a TV set and light. Similar facilities have been given to other 2G accused including former telecom minister A Raja. Like the former telecom minister, she will be given south Indian food. Her clothes and bedding came from home. Asked to take off her jewellery, Kanimozhi was a picture of resignation as she complied. "As per jail rules, she was immediately made to undergo a medical examination after which she was taken to her cell. She was shown her cell after which she showered.
Kanimozhi used a toilet that only had a curtain. "The bathrooms are inside the cell and there is no wall. We string up curtains when the inmate has to go to the bathroom. This is regular," he said. Her dinner was chapatti, rice, subzi and dal. She ate inside her cell and the food was the same as given to other inmates. Kanimozhi, the prison official said, expressed concern over mosquitoes and asked if she would be provided a mosquito repellant. Kanimozhi also struck up a conversation with other woman prisoners, especially those from Tamil Nadu. But officials made it clear she won't be allowed to interact with any of the 2G accused lodged in jails 1, 3 and 4.
Kalaignar TV MD Sharad Kumar was sent to jail number 4 where former Commonwealth Gameschief organizer Suresh Kalmadi is also lodged. He was lodged in ward number 15 and also given bedsheets, a mattress, a TV, books and attached bathroom. "Medical tests were also conducted on him and he ate dinner but did not take a shower.
20 May 2011 Last updated at 11:54 GMT
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