Kanimozhi’s much expected relief came from the CBI on Monday, two days after charges were framed by a Delhi court.
DMK’s Rajya Sabha MP Kanimozhi’s much expected relief came from the CBI on Monday, two days after charges were framed by a Delhi court, as the investigating agency chose not to oppose her bail plea along with that of four others accused in the 2G spectrum scam.
Arguing before CBI special judge OP Saini, special public prosecutor UU Lalit said: “I am not opposing the bail plea of Kanimozhi, Sharad Kumar and three others as their names and roles have cropped up only in the supplementary chargesheet, so bail is a matter of right for these.”
Apart from Kanimozhi and Kumar, the CBI also chose not to oppose the bail pleas of Swan Telecom’s promoter Asif Balwa, Rajiv Agarwal and Karim Morani.
The CBI, however, chose to raise objections on the bail plea of Swan Telecom promoter Shahid Balwa and former telecom minister A Raja’s former private secretary RK Chandolia, saying that the specific charges framed against them carry seven years jail term as maximum sentence.
Giving reasons for not opposing the bail, Lalit said Kanimozhi and the four others faced specific charges, apart from the umbrella section of 120-B (criminal conspiracy) IPC, which entail only five years sentence as maximum punishment.
“Let’s put Shahid Balwa and Chandolia in different category at this stage... I submit, one can make distinction so far as those for whom maximum punishment can be five years and those against whom maximum punishment can be seven years. At this juncture, I am opposing the bail pleas of accused Chandolia and Shahid Balwa,” Lalit told the court.
However, the court reserved the orders for all seven accused till November 3.
Regarding Kanimozhi and four others, Lalit said, “I do not know how much time each accused has spent in custody but they have at least spent 5-6 months. This court might consider their bail pleas.”
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