2G scam: Kanimozhi bail plea dismissed

New Delhi, Nov 3 (ANI): A special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court on Thursday denied bail to Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) Member of Parliament Kanimozhi and seven others accused in the 2G spectrum allocation scam case.

CBI Judge O P Saini dismissed the bail pleas of the accused and posted the case for further hearing on November 11, when the trial will begin.

The accused can move the High Court for bail, however as the case is under the scrutiny of the Supreme Court, the apex court's view on it would be important.

O P Saini had on September 24 reserved the order on the bail pleas of Kanimozhi, Swan Telecom promoter Shahid Usman Balwa, former Telecom Minister A Raja's ex-private secretary R K Chandolia, Kalaignar TV MD Sharad Kumar, Directors of Kusegaon Fruits and Vegetables Asif Balwa and Rajiv Agarwal and Bollywood producer Karim Morani.

Besides them, the court had on Tuesday reserved its order on the bail plea of former telecom secretary Siddhartha Behura.

The CBI had preferred not to oppose the bail pleas of Kanimozhi and four others during the arguments on the ground that they faced specific charges, apart from the "umbrella section" of 120-B (criminal conspiracy) IPC, which entail five years sentence as maximum punishment.

All the accused have been charged under Section 409 of the Indian Penal Code, which hands a minimum punishment of seven years and a maximum punishment of life imprisonment.

They also stand accused under Sections 120B (Criminal Conspiracy), 42 (Cheating), 468 (Forgery for Purpose of Cheating) and 471 (Using as Genuine a Forged Document) of the Indian penal Code. Under the Prevention of Corruption Act, the accused have been charged under Sections 7, 11, 12 and 13.

The telecom scam, one of India's biggest graft cases ever, may have cost 39.57 billion dollars in revenue to the public exchequer as per the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG). (ANI)