Karuna fumes as Kani on firing line

UPDATED  27/4/2011 5:35:06 PM

Chennai: DMK did not walk out of the UPA alliance at the Centre on Wednesday over the 2G issue and decided to fight the case legally. 

After a meeting of the party`s High-Level Committee, DMK President and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister expressed `anguish` over inclusion Kanimozhi`s name in the second charge sheet in the spectrum allocation case by CBI and said they would fight the issue legally to prove the their innocence of his daughter and the party in court.

`We will take legal steps to prove the truth`, he told reporters. Ever since the supplementary charge sheeting naming Kanimozhi as an accused was filed in a Delhi court on Monday, there has been speculation that DMK might adopt a hard line and could even think of quitting the Central ministry.

Asked whether Kanimozhi would appear before a CBI court at Delhi on May 6, where she had been summoned, he replied in the affirmative. `She is not Jayalalithaa to ignore the court summons`, he said in a reference to the AIADMK leader seeking exemption from personal appearance in the disproportionate wealth case against her in a Bangalore court.

Asked whether Kanimozhi and Kalaignar TV CEO Sarath Kumar, who had also been summoned, would seek anticipatory bail, Karunanidhi said the lawyers would decide about it. To a query, Karunanidhi said the party did not face any embarrassment on the issue.

The meeting adopted a resolution blaming some parties to create lack of confidence among UPA allies and to break the alliance. It said the 2G case was being used to defame the DMK which would seek legal recourse. It also expressed surprise over inclusion of Kanimozhi`s name in the supplementary charge sheet.

In a resolution, the committee described as `surprising` Kanimozhi`s inclusion in the charge sheet despite providing all relevant documents on receipt and repayment of Rs 200 crore loan to Kalaignar TV, in which she has 20 per cent stake, from Mumbai based DB Realty.

"It is in court and we will fight it legally," Kanimozhi said, emerging out of the 90-minute meeting in her first reaction to the CBI charge sheet. The CBI`s action had fuelled speculation that the DMK might consider pulling out its ministers from the UPA cabinet, but the party preferred to adopt a cautious approach.

The resolution said there was a campaign of calumny against its party leaders in the 2G scam and it would face the issue legally and establish the truth. The meeting, chaired by Karunanidhi, also attacked a section of the media, saying they had grabbed this as a `rare opportunity` to defame DMK and make it a political issue and subsequently create a lack of confidence among UPA allies and break it.

The DMK resolution said some political leaders, who have made corruption their way of life, are using the 2G issue to unseat Karunanidhi, who it claimed "is the root of the Dravidian movement," to create panic among party workers, adding that some sections of the media were also part of it.

This was proved by the way reporters posed questions on the 2G issue and carried their reports on it, the resolution said. The DMK said it would not fall prey to such a campaign as it believed it can establish the truth through legal recourse.

The CBI charge sheet naming Kanimozhi has added strain to the already uneasy DMK-Congress ties in a two month span after the Dravidian party threatened to pull out its ministers over seat-sharing talks for the April 13 Assembly polls.

The DMK was also miffed at the "publicity exercise of gargantuan proportions" given to CBI questioning Kanimozhi, Karunanidhi`s wife Dayaluammal and Sharad Kumar, all stakeholders in Kalaignar TV, which is in an eye of storm for receiving loans from DB Realty in a `circuitous route.`

CBI in its charge sheet filed in a Delhi court had accused Kanimozhi of entering into a criminal conspiracy with prime accused, former Telecom Minister A Raja, besides charging her under the Prevention of Corruption Act for taking illegal gratification through Kalaignar TV.

However, the charge sheet did not name Dayaluammal, who holds 60 per cent stake in Kalaignar TV, as an accused but cited her one of the witnesses in the case.(PTI)

Courtesy:PTI