NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday refused to give any relief to DMK supremo M Karunanidhi’s wife Dayalu Ammal, an accused in a 2G scam-related money laundering case, in which she has sought discharge on medical grounds and asked her to approach the trial court.
A Bench headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) H L Dattu asked Ammal’s lawyer, who had challenged the August 20 order, passed by the trial court dismissing her plea, to convince the 2G special court that she was suffering from mental ailments and unable to understand the nature of the charge imposed against her.
The Bench told her counsel and senior advocate Amarendra Sharan that the trial court was the proper forum to seek discharge.
In her plea, Ammal, 84, had said that she was a person of unsound mind, incapable of entering her defence and that her medical record showed that she was suffering from mental ailments, which resulted in the loss of cognitive powers.
Ammal, along with others, including former Telecom Minister A Raja and DMK MP Kanimozhi,was chargesheeted by the Enforcement Directorate. The ED had chargesheeted 19 accused -- 10 individuals and nine firms - in the case, saying that the transaction of `200 crore, which was paid to DMK-run Kalaignar TV, was not genuine and was instead, a bribe to grant telecom licences to the DB Group. Ammal was holding a 60 pc stake in Kalaignar TV, while Kanimozhi and co-accused Sharad Kumar were holding a 20 pc stake each.