A day after the Supreme Court granted bail to five Reliance corporate executives while noting that refusal of bail is not for punitive purposes,the Delhi High Court on Thursday agreed to early hearing of the bail applications of DMK MP Kanimozhi and five others and scheduled their cases for Friday. Justice V K Shali,however,was critical of the plea raised by the lawyer of one of the accused pressing the court to hear the bail applications on Thursday itself. He snubbed the request,saying everyone was supposed to adhere to the procedures of the court. Your applications cannot be taken up today. There are certain procedures of the court for hearing the matters. Dont send a wrong message that if a person is high and mighty,he or she will have his way with the court. It is not the correct view, said Justice Shali,irate over the argument that all the bail applications could be heard during the day itself. Advancing the date of their hearing from December 1,the judge then said that all the bail applications would be heard on Friday at 10.30 am. Apart from Kanimozhi,others who have pleaded for bail are former telecom secretary Siddhartha Behura,DMK-run Kalaignar TV MD Sharad Kumar,Bollywood filmmaker Karim Morani,and Kusegaon Fruits and Vegetables Pvt Ltd directors Asif Balwa and Rajiv Agarwal. The court has further asked the counsel for the accused to submit a tabulated chart,detailing the charges against them,witnesses named against them and also the documentary and other evidence. We will take all these into account during the hearing, added Justice Shali. Also,during the proceedings,former Additional Solicitor General Altaf Ahmed and senior advocate Sidharth Luthra,appearing for Kanimozhi and Morani respectively,submitted that the situation of their clients was akin to that of the five corporate executives,who have been granted bail by the Supreme Court. We are either similarly or better placed in relation to the accused who have already been granted bail, Luthra said. On being asked by the court about the Supreme Court order on bail,Additional Solicitor General Mohan Parasaran,appearing for the CBI,read out relevant paragraphs from the judgment wherein the apex court had categorically dismissed the CBIs oppositions to the bail. While on the last date when these bail applications had come up for the first time,Parasaran had said the CBI would not challenge their plea,he did not make the stand of the CBI clear on Thursday. Kanimozhi has been lodged in Tihar Jail since May 20,while others in the case were arrested between February 2 and May 30. Except Behura,all five accused were named in the second CBI chargesheet,which dealt with the alleged routing of Rs 200 crore bribe through various firms to Kalaignar TV.
