With barely a week left for the CBI to file its status report in the Supreme Court on the 2G spectrum investigation,sources in the agency on Wednesday said it has the intent and reason to quiz Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhis daughter and DMK MP Kanimozhi and wife Dayalu Ammal,but the delay in their summoning has set off speculation that it may be due to the recent turn of political events. The CBI,sources said,was all set to summon Kanimozhi before the March-15 deadline for filing the status report. But the political developments,it seems,has forced the agency to rework its plans. It is learnt that the investigating agency is now wondering whether to issue a formal summons or just call her for clarifications on the alleged transfer of money from DB Realty to Kalaignar TV. She owns a stake in the channel. I have not got any summons so far. Let me get it first, Kanimozhi told The Indian Express when asked whether she would appear before the CBI if the agency issued a summons. Informally,the CBI has made it known to those close to Kanimozhi that it may not send her a summons but call her for clarifications,sources said. The CBIs alleged delay comes after the DMKs recent split and reunion with the Congress ostensibly over seat-sharing differences. While both the Congress and the DMK have maintained that the trouble was over the number of seats to be contested by both the parties,sources in the Congress have claimed that the ally was worried about the CBI investigation reaching the doorsteps of the DMKs first family. Investigators,however,said the questioning would help them reach a logical conclusion in establishing the link between DB Realty and Kanimozhi. Sources in the CBI,too, confirmed that it has not yet send any summons to either Kanimozhi or Ammal. At the same time,sources in the CBI said quizzing Kanimozhi was still on the cards and a decision was likely to be taken in the next couple of days. The CBI wants to quiz Kanimozhi in connection with the transfer of Rs 214 crore to Kalaignar TV by DB Realty the only money trail that the agency claims to have established so far in the multi-crore scam. Sources,however,said besides the transfer of money to Kalaignar TV,the questioning will focus on the transfer of money by another telecom company to Kalaignar TV. According to the CBI,Shahid Balwa-owned DB Realty transferred Rs 214 crore to Kusegaon Firms from where it was transferred to Cineyug Films which in turn transferred the money into the accounts of Kalaignar TV. The DMK MP owns 20 per cent stake while 60 percent is in the name of Dayalu Ammal. The remaining 20 per cent is retained by the MD of the channel owned by Sharad Kumar,considered close to former telecom minister A Raja. The TV channel had maintained that the money was returned with interest to Cineyug and they also paid tax on the same. The CBI had carried out raids at the offices of Kalaignar TV and residences of MD Sharad Kumar on February 18,2011 in Chennai during which the agency claims to have seized incriminating documents. We need to confront the DMK MP and others with seized documents when they are called for questioning. We also have evidence to show where they cannot deny that they were not aware about the money transaction, said a CBI official.
