Apex court denies bail to Kanimozhi

An upset Karunanidhi will leave for Delhi today to meet and console his daughter in Tihar jail

Apex court denies bail to Kanimozhi

An upset Karunanidhi will leave for Delhi today to meet and console his daughter in Tihar jail

Kanimozhi will have to cool her heels in Tihar jail for some more time as the Supreme Court yesterday dismissed her bail plea in the 2G scam and pulled-up the CBI for its failure to interrogate the accused and for not recovering certain documents.

Media reports surfaced yesterday of Karunanidhi wanting tou00a0 bring up the issue with the Congress high commandu00a0 as well during his Delhi visit

However, the court offered Kanimozhi some hope when it said that she could approach the trial court for bail once charges are framed in the case.

The CBI is likely to soon file a third chargesheet in the case after which the special CBI court is expected to frame charges.

A special bench of justices G S Singhvi and B S Chauhan ticked off the counsel for Kanimozhi and co-accused Kalaignar TV Managing Director Sharad Kumar when they claimed that they were innocent and were not hungry for money.

"Hungry people neither take bribe nor do they come to the courts. None of them (the accused) is a hungry person," the bench remarked.

Families surprised
The apex court order came as a surprise for the lawyers and the family members of the two accused as they were hopeful of getting relief from the bench which appeared receptive to their pleas for bail during the 90-minute hearing.

The defence argument that Kanimozhi and Kumar, whose bail plea was also rejected today, were no longer required for investigation as the CBI had not interrogated them prompted the bench to ask the agency why it had failed to do so.

It also asked senior counsel A S Chandiok appearing for the CBI about what was preventing the agency from recovering certain documents.

"What is preventing you from recovering the documents? Why did you not interrogate them?" the bench asked him even as the counsel merely claimed the probe was on.

The bench was not impressed with the defence plea that the accused were willing to abide by any conditions for bail and even IMF Chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn was granted bail in the sexual molestation case.

"Let us keep the media discussions outside. It tends to blur our thinking," the bench remarked.