CBI set to interrogate Kanimozhi

Charge sheet will establish link between DB group and Kalaignar TV

DMK Rajya Sabha MP Kanimozhi comes out of Parliament house on Tuesday. Photo: R. V. Moorthy

With the March-end deadline inching closer, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is working to finalise the charge sheet in the 2G spectrum scam case, well placed sources in the agency said on Tuesday.

Even as the Congress-DMK ties have hit a rough patch, the CBI appears set to go ahead with its plan of quizzing DMK MP and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi’s daughter Kanimozhi in the 2G spectrum allocation scam. She holds 20 per cent equity in Kalaignar TV, which allegedly got Rs. 214 crore from Mumbai-based Cineyug Films.

Investigations, conducted by the CBI so far, have indicated that the funds emanated from the DB group of Shahid Balwa, already in judicial custody. Etisalat DB was one of the main beneficiaries in the 2G spectrum scam.

Sources in the CBI said the agency’s probe in the 2G spectrum scam, being monitored by the Supreme Court, had to reach its “logical conclusion” and the DMK MP may be offered a choice of place herself either in Delhi or Chennai to make herself available for questioning by the CBI officials. Discussions among CBI officials and agency’s lawyers were also taking place on some of the finer points of the probe as well as the charge sheet.

Also, the CBI has to show before March 31 its draft charge sheet to the Supreme Court, before filing it in the designated court.

The charge sheet, sources told

The Hindu , will establish the link between the DB group and Kalaignar TV which has claimed to have already repaid the Rs. 214 crore loan. The sources said the charge sheet will establish the criminal misconduct of accused persons and try to pin down the extent of their culpability in the alleged 2G scam. If more time is needed to establish the money trail, the agency would apprise the Supreme Court about it and seek its permission to grant it further time possibly for filing a supplementary charge sheet.

According to sources, the CBI probe, based on the elaborate questioning of all top officials of telecom firms which had got licenses in 2007-08 and scrutiny of documents, has indicated that the former Telecom Minister A. Raja, currently lodged in Central Tihar jail, was allegedly demanding Rs. 200 to Rs. 400 crore as illegal gratification for awarding licences.

The agency is also preparing a list of all ineligible companies who had got the licences during Mr. Raja’s tenure as the head of the Telecom Ministry. The CAG report has already found that many companies had allegedly misrepresented facts and had much less authorised share capital as against the required amount.