2G scam: Court to record statements of Raja, Kanimozhi tomorrow

Special CBI judge O P Saini had on March 4 supplied a draft questionnaire of 400 questions to the counsel of the 19 accused

A special CBI court here is likely to commence tomorrow the recording of statements of accused, including former Telecom Minister A Raja, DMK MP Kanimozhi and 17 others, in a 2G scam-related money laundering case.

Special CBI judge O P Saini had on March 4 supplied a draft questionnaire containing 400 questions running into 225 pages to the counsel representing the 19 accused and had fixed the matter for tomorrow.

The court had supplied questionnaire observing that it would facilitate recording of statements of the accused with "ease and felicity" as records of the case were technical and voluminous.

While giving the questionnaire to the defence counsel, the judge had said that if any query was not understandable to any of the accused or their counsel, they were at liberty to ask for clarifications.

Raja, Kanimozhi, DMK leader M Karunanidhi's wife Dayalu Ammal, Swan Telecom Pvt Ltd (STPL) promoters Shahid Usman Balwa and Vinod Goenka and 14 others, including nine firms, are facing trial in the case.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on April 25, last year had filed a charge sheet against them for alleged offences under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

The other individual accused in the money laundering case are Directors of Kusegaon Fruits and Vegetables Pvt Ltd, Asif Balwa and Rajiv Agarwal, Kalaignar TV MD Sharad Kumar, Bollywood producer Karim Morani and P Amirtham. All of them are out on bail.

The court has also framed charges against accused firms STPL, Kusegaon Realty Pvt Ltd (formerly Kusegaon Fruits and Vegetables Pvt Ltd), Cineyug Media and Entertainment Pvt Ltd (formerly known as Cineyug Films Pvt Ltd), Kalaignar TV Pvt Ltd, Dynamix Realty, DB Realty Ltd, Eversmile Construction Company Pvt Ltd, Conwood Constructions and Developers (P) Ltd and Nihar Constructions Pvt Ltd.