Another 2G scam accused Karim Morani, who 'felicitated' transfer of Rs 200 crore to Kalaignar TV, was denied bail and sent to custody
Another 2G scam accused Karim Morani, who 'felicitated' transfer of Rs 200 crore to Kalaignar TV, was denied bail and sent to custodyThe Delhi High Court yesterday reserved its order on bail pleas of DMK MP Kanimozhi and Kalaignar TV MD Sharad Kumar. Earlier in the day, Cineyug Films director Karim Morani, an accused in the 2G spectrum case, was arrested and taken into judicial custody after a Delhi court rejected his bail plea. Special CBI Judge OP Saini rejected the plea of Morani who is charged with facilitating the transaction of Rs 200 crore from DB Realty to Kalaignar TV, in which DMK MP Kanimozhi holds 20 per cent stake. The CBI had alleged that Morani took Rs 6 crore for facilitating the Rs 200 crore transaction. The court did not accept the plea of the accused that he was entitled for bail as he was not arrested during the investigation of the case. Morani had filed his regular bail plea on May 24 after the court had denied anticipatory bail and directed him to appear before it.
Vicious circle: Karim Moraniu00a0 had allegedly taken Rs 6 crore for
facilitating the Rs 200 crore transaction to Kalaignar TV in which Kanimozhi
has 20 per cent stake. Pic/Imtiyaz Khan The CBI, in its second chargesheet in the 2G case, had alleged that Swan Telecom and Dynamix Realty Promoters Shahid Usman Balwa and Vinod Goenka channelled Rs 200 crore to DMK-run Kalaignar TV through Kusegaon Fruits and Vegetables Pvt Ltd and Morani's Cineyug Films Pvt Ltd. The court had earlier dismissed Morani's anticipatory bail plea on medical grounds, saying that as per the May 19 reports received from the department of Cardiology and Neurosurgery of Mumbai's JJ Hospital, his condition is "stable and normal".
Opposing the bail plea of Morani, the CBI had said all other accused, involved in the transaction of Rs 200 crore from DB Realty to Kalaignar TV, are already in judicial custody.
Bail order reserved Justice Ajit Bharihoke, after hearing detailed arguments on the bail applications of Kanimozhi and Sharad Kumar, said the order on their pleas would be pronounced later. Senior advocate Altaf Ahmed, appearing for 43-year-old DMK MP and Sharad Kumar, contended that the transaction of Rs 200 crore from DB Group to Kalaignar TV was a valid loan transaction and their was nothing "dubious" about it. "All the documents are in the custody of the CBI and hence there is no point in keeping us in jail," Ahmed said. Senior advocate and special public prosecutor UU Lalit opposed their bail pleas saying the accused have attempted to create "smoke screen" by projecting the bribe trail of Rs 200 crore as a loan transaction.
"No contemporaneous documents were executed by any of the companies which were part of the money transaction. It was nothing but the transaction of the bribe amount," Lalit said. The court had earlier issued a notice to the CBI on the bail pleas of both the accused and asked the investigating agency to file a status report detailing the stage of investigation and the judicial proceedings in the case. Kanimozhi and Sharad Kumar had approached the high court on May 23 after their bail applications were dismissed by a special CBI court on May 20.
