The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam on Sunday voiced suspicion that there was an ulterior motive behind the Central Bureau of Investigation objecting to granting of bail to its member and Rajya Sabha MP, Kanimozhi, in the 2G spectrum scam case. It also accused the agency of “discriminating” against the MP, who is now lodged in the Tihar Jail.
The party's General Council passed a resolution to this effect here on Sunday, in the presence of DMK president M. Karunanidhi and other senior leaders.
The resolution sought to draw attention to the reported observation by Special Court Judge O.P. Saini wondering whether the CBI wanted to detain the accused permanently.
It also referred to statements by Union Law Minister Salman Khursheed, his predecessor M. Veerappa Moily, and senior Bharatiya Janata Party leaders Jaswant Singh and Yashwant Sinha that one could not be detained for long until proven guilty.
“Unfair”
Whether the notional loss of Rs.1.76 lakh crore was caused by unilateral allocation of spectrum to telecom companies or based on government policy was under investigation. In such circumstances, it was unfair to have named Ms. Kanimozhi, a 20 per cent shareholder in Kalaignar TV, and its Managing Director Sharad Kumar, as accused in the case only on the basis of the loan transactions which the company was involved in.
Therefore, the CBI's objection to grant of bail for Ms. Kanimozhi and Mr. Kumar was against the principles of natural justice.
As per the directions of the Supreme Court, the probe into the case would cover decisions taken from 2001, on who took the first decision and who altered it later.
But even before the probe had ended, A. Raja had to resign as Minister for Communications owing to protests from the Opposition parties, the General Council regretted.
Besides, it noted that Dayanidhi Maran had to resign as Union Textiles Minister recently because some newspapers carried reports of his alleged involvement (when he was Minister for Communications in the United Progressive Alliance-I government).
