2G PMLA case: SC asks DMK chief's wife to move special court

DMK supremo M Karunanidhi's wife Dayalu Ammal, an accused in a 2G scam-related money laundering case, today did not get relief from the Supreme Court which refused to hear her plea seeking discharge on medical grounds and asked her to approach the trial court for her grievances.
A bench headed by Chief Justice H L Dattu asked Ammal's lawyer, who has challenged the August 20 order passed by the trial court dismissing her plea, to convince the special court that she being suffering from mental ailments was unable to understand the nature of charge imposed against her.
The bench asked her counsel and senior advocate Amarendra Sharan that trial court was the proper forum to seek discharge on the ground that she was suffering from Alzheimer's dementia and other diseases.

"The judge cannot proceed without making the accused understand the nature of the charge," the bench said.
In her plea through her lawyer, 84-year-old Ammal has said that she is a "person of unsound mind incapable of entering her defence" and her medical records "categorically shows that she is suffering from mental ailments which are resulting in the loss of cognitive powers".
The plea also said that a final conclusion on her health condition could be determined only by medical examination.

Ammal, along with others including former Telecom Minister A Raja and DMK MP Kanimozhi, was chargesheeted by Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a 2G scam-related money laundering case.

ED had chargesheeted 19 accused -- 10 individuals and nine firms -- in the case saying that the transaction of Rs 200 crore, which was allegedly paid to DMK-run Kalaignar TV, was "not genuine" and it was a "bribe for grant of telecom licences to DB Group companies".
Ammal was holding 60 per cent stake in Kalaignar TV while Kanimozhi and co-accused Sharad Kumar were holding 20 per cent stake each, the agency had said.
The agency had claimed that its probe into the case emanates from 2G spectrum allocation scam and the accused had allegedly conspired and committed offences under provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

All the individual accused in the case are presently out on bail.