AAP leader Bhushan says there’s audio evidence of Kanimozhi’s complicity in scam; CBI to examine tapes
Aam Aadmi Party leader and 2G case petitioner Prashant Bhushan on Tuesday released five audio tapes exposing how a senior Tamil Nadu Police officer and the DMK leadership tried to save DMK MP Kanimozhi from the CBI in the 2G scam.
According to Bhushan, the tapes have accounts of conversations between former ADGP Intelligence Jaffar Sait, Kalaignar TV Managing Director Sharad Kumar, Kanimozhi and Karunanidhi’s Private Secretary Shanmuganathan on how to manipulate the funds and documents with regard to the 2G scam.
In a move that portends more trouble for the DMK chief’s daughter, the CBI has decided to analyse the taped conversations which the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) claims as additional “evidence” in the 2G scam showing alleged roles of Karunanidhi, his daughter Kanimozhi and the top cop from Tamil Nadu.
“A conversation which is said to have been taken place in February-March, 2011 purportedly between Sharad Kumar and Jaffar Sait, has come to the notice of CBI through media reports,” the CBI spokesperson said in a statement.
The CBI is in the process of obtaining the recordings and transcripts of these conversations, the spokesperson said.
“We will first establish the veracity and genuineness of these tapes,” a senior CBI officer said. In its charge sheet in 2G scam, CBI alleged that Kalaignar TV, in which Kanimozhi and her mother Dayalu Ammal had 80 per cent stake, allegedly received Rs 214-crore from Shahid Balwa’s Dynamix Realty, Kusegaon Fruits and Vegetables and Cineyug Films in return of favours given to Swan Telecom by then Telecom Minister A Raja in 2G spectrum allocation.
Kanimozhi, who was also charged under provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act, had claimed that this amount was an unsecured loan which had been returned.
Meanwhile, speaking to reporters in Chennai, DMK chief M Karunanidhi denied allegations and charges by Bhushan that there was an attempt to cover up the corruption charges against Kanimozhi. The DMK chief turned all his ire at Chief Minister Jayalalithaa and asked the reporters: “What corruptionIJ What allegationsIJ You go and ask Jayalalithaa about her disproportionate assets”.
The Tamil Nadu Chief Minister is facing trial in a special court in Bangalore in the disproportionate asset case filed against her by the Karunanidhi regime (1996 to 2001).
In one of the tapes released by Bhushan, Sharad Kumar, who is also an accused in the 2G case, is heard telling Jaffar Sait that Kanimozhi was indeed a Director of the TV channel when kickbacks in the scam flowed into the TV company. This admission will be a great blow to Kanimozhi, who has been arguing in court that she was not a Director during the period when the TV channel received the alleged bribes from companies linked to another accused Shahid Balwa.
Though the CBI had demolished Kanimozhi’s arguments in the 2G court with proof during trial, the leaked tapes are further evidence of her complicity in the scam.
The conversations took place between February 2011, when the CBI started questioning Kanimozhi and Sharad Kumar. In the leaked tapes, Sharad Kumar is heard talking about forging documents to save Kanimozhi. The tapes were believed to have been leaked by A Sankar, former employee of Tamil Nadu State Vigilance who runs a website called Savukku.
The conversations between police officials and Karunanidhi’s Private Secretary reveal that hefty amounts were pumped into Kalaignar TV through dubious methods. Releasing the tapes in the Press conference along with colleagues Yogendra Yadav and Sanjay Singh, Bhushan said the CBI should take cognizance of the offence committed by Karunanidhi’s family by forging documents.
The AAP leader said the tapes also warranted a probe into the property deal and various “favours” granted by then DMK Government to the Tata Group. Bhushan said he will place the tapes before the Supreme Court which is monitoring the probe into the 2G spectrum scam.
When contacted by news agency PTI, a Tata Sons spokesperson said: “Allegations that are being made against Tata companies have been repeatedly looked into and investigated by the authorities concerned. These have found the conduct of Tata entities to be above board. We reiterate that the business transactions of Tata companies are bona fide and in line with the group’s code of conduct and commitment to ethical standards.”
