A day before it is to submit a status report to the Supreme Court on the ongoing probe into the alleged scam in 2G spectrum allocation, the Central Bureau of Investigation questioned Kalaignar TV managing director Sharad Kumar and Cineyug Films Private Limited promoter Karim Morani.
Official sources in the CBI said Mr. Kumar was called to the agency's headquarters here on Monday for giving clarifications on certain issues pertaining to the receipt of Rs. 214 crore by the channel from Cineyug and its suspected links with DB Realty, promoted by Shahid Balwa, who is already under arrest.
Investigators also confronted Mr. Kumar with Mr. Morani.
The quizzing of Mr. Kumar, for the third time, comes in less than a week of the questioning of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi's daughter Kanimozhi, MP, and his wife Dayalu Ammal in Chennai. Ms. Kanimozhi and Mr. Kumar hold 20 per cent shares each in the channel, while Dayalu Ammal has 60 per cent. His session with the investigators lasted till evening, the sources said.
The CBI alleges that there was a transaction of Rs. 214 crore from Cineyug to Kalaignar TV in 2009. It suspects that the funds were arranged by Cineyug from the DB Group of Companies promoted by Mr. Balwa, who also floated Swan Telecom, which is a beneficiary of 2G spectrum allocation.
Mr. Kumar has already denied receiving pay-offs from DB Realty, maintaining that the funds from Cineyug were an “advance for transaction of shares,” and that the money was returned with interest when the two parties differed over price evaluation of shares. He said the money was received as a loan, and the Income Tax Department was aware of the transaction.
The CBI is also working on finalising the charge sheet before March 31.
