New Delhi, Nov 3 (IANS): The bail pleas of DMK MP Kanimozhi and seven others in the 2G spectrum allotment scam were Thursday dismissed by a CBI special court, which said all the applications were without merit. They will continue to be lodged in Tihar Jail.
Beside Kanimozhi, the other seven bail application dismissed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Special Judge O.P. Saini were of Swan Telecom promoter Shahid Usman Balwa, former communications minister A. Raja's then private secretary R.K. Chandolia, Kalaignar TV chief Sharad Kumar, directors of Kusegaon Fruits & Vegetables Pvt Ltd Asif Balwa and Rajiv B. Agarwal, Bollywood producer Karim Morani and former telecom secretary Siddhartha Behura.
Judge O.P. Saini's order further said:
* The facts of the cases as well as the charges levelled against the accused are of very serious nature having grave implications for the economy.
* Accused Kanimozhi belongs to upper echelons of the society and she is also an MP. By no stretch of imagination she can be said to be suffering from any discrimination on the ground of being a woman alone.
* Witnesses should have a sense of safety and security -- one way of generating this is to keep the accused in the custody.
* Their ultimate objective was to use public money in carefully planned manner for personal use with no right to do it.
* No opposition from the CBI to their bail applications but that dosen't have any bearing on this case.
* On the basis of medical papers already on record, it cannot be held that the standard of illness of the accused (Morani) is so high as to categorise his custody as detrimental to his health.
* There is no distinction between the accused charged on the basis of main chargesheet and supplementary chargesheet. There is only one chargesheet in the eyes of law.
* The people involved in such an offence, particularly those who continue to reap the benefits of the crime committed by them, do not deserve any indulgence... any sympathy to them, are not only entirely misplaced but also against the larger interest of the society...the court cannot be oblivious to the fact that such offences are preceded by cool, calculated and deliberate design with an eye on personal gains and in fact not all such offences come to the surface.
* If a person knows that even after misappropriating huge public funds, they can come out on bail after spending a few months in jail, and thereafter they can continue to enjoy the ill-gotten wealth obtained by illegal means, that would only encourage many others to commit similar crimes.
* In fact, not everyone would mind luxurious living for him and his family, even it comes at the cost of spending a few months in jail.
* A strong message, therefore, needs to be sent to these white-collared criminals and those who are waiting in the wings that in the long run, it does not pay to be on the wrong side of the law.
* A more serious section of 409 (criminal breach of trust) of IPC has been added, which is punishable with imprisonment for life or with imprisonment of a term which may extend to ten years.
* Even otherwise, all 17 accused, including the five applicants, have been charged with section 120 B (criminal conspiracy), 420 (cheating), 409 (criminal breach of trust by public servant), 468 (forgery), 471 (faking documents), 193 (tendering false evidence in court) of IPC (along with relevant sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act).
* The facts and circumstances of the case itself suggest that the witnesses would be under lot of pressure, given the serious consequences of the case for the parties. This is further compound by the fact that the witnesses are employees, relatives, family members, colleagues and subordinates of the accused persons.