2G Case: Kanimozhi Active Brain behind KTV, Says Raja's Ex-Aide

NEW DELHI: Former communications minister A. Raja's ex-additional private secretary, Aseervatham Achary, Friday told a special court hearing the money laundering case related to 2G spectrum allocation case that DMK MP Kanimozhi frequently visited Raja and was the active brain behind the formation of Kalaignar TV.

Testifying as an Enforcement Directorate (ED)'s witness in the case, Achary told the special judge O. P. Saini that Swan Telecom promoters Shahid Usman Balwa and Vinod Goenka also visited Raja's office and his Delhi residence during his tenure as environment and forests minister as well as when he was communications and information technology minister.

He told court that Raja has told him that Goenka used to meet him relating to telecom related work.

Raja, Balwa and Goenka were not present in the court Friday as they have taken exemption from personal appearance due to some work.

Achary said: "I used to see Kanimozhi Karunanidhi, a member of Parliament belonging to DMK party, visiting Raja at his residential office at Motilal Nehru Marg, New Delhi, frequently and also she visited his office at Electronics Niketan once. Both of them used to talk to each other regularly."

He added that Kanimozhi is the active brain behind the formation of Kalaignar TV and she used to be widely covered in news bulletins of Kalaignar TV.

He told court that after a tiff between Maran brothers in 2007, who were running Sun TV, DMK chief M. Karunanidhi's family members decided to have their own TV channel as mouthpiece of the party and launched Kalaignar TV.

"I used to see Sharad Kumar of KTV meeting A. Raja at his office and residence in connection with follow up work of formation of Kalaignar TV," he said.

"Raja used to ask me to connect Priyaranjan Das Munshi, the then minister of information and broadcasting, and his private secretary Manoj Kumar Aggarwal over phone. Raja used to talk to them in connection with early grant of licence to Kalaignar TV."

He added that Raja used to talk to them for grant of licences to other channels under the bouquet of Kalaignar TV.

Achary joined Raja as his assistant private secretary in October 1999 and remained with him till Oct 2008 as additional private secretary.

While being cross examined by defence counsel, Achary said that it is wrong to suggest that he is speaking lies and made such statement for political reasons.

"It is wrong to suggest that I have been manipulated by Subramanian Swamy and the BJP to give false evidence before the court," he said.

Achary also told court that he watched news regularly and found that in the recent past, Prime Minister Narendra Modi got the widest coverage on all news channels.

Raja and other are facing trial in the case, in which Enforcement Directorate (ED) has alleged that around Rs.200 crore was paid by the promoters of Swan Telecom, using their group firm Dynamix Realty, to Kalaignar TV via Kusegaon and Cineyug in the garb of a legitimate financial transaction.

The charge sheet said the payment was illegal gratification for, and on behalf of, Raja and his associates in lieu of illegal favours to Swan Telecom for the grant of telecom licence.