Kanimozhi's NGO got huge donation from telcos, SC told

The Supreme Court was today told that the NGO of DMK MP Kanimozhi, one of the accused in 2G spectrum allocation scam, received huge donations from telecom companies which were granted licence during the tenure of former Telecom Minister A Raja.

Placing before a bench of justices G S Singhvi and A K Ganguly the record of payments made by the companies, the NGO, Centre for Public Interest Litigation (CPIL), alleged the donations were made in the run up to the allotment of 2G licenses in January 2008.

Advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for CPIL, alleged the document established that just days before the 2G licenses were allotted on January 10, 2008, several telecom companies which had made donations to

Kanimozhi's NGO were rewarded with the spectrum. The document filed in the apex court says Unitech paid Rs 50 lakh on January 5, 2008, and Tata Teleservices paid Rs 25 lakh on the same day.

On January 7, 2008, Reliance Capital Limited paid Rs 25 lakh, Shaam Telecom Limited paid Rs 10 lakh and ETA Star Property Management paid another Rs 10 lakh to the NGO, the document said.

43-year-old Kanimozhi, daughter of DMK chief M Karunanidhi, has already been chargesheeted in the case and will be appearing before the trial court tomorrow.

In its chargesheet filed in a special court on April 25, CBI has accused Kanimozhi of entering into a criminal conspiracy with Raja for accepting illegal gratification through Kalaignar TV -- a channel run by ruling DMK in Tamil Nadu, in which Rs.200 crore related to the 2G scam was said to have been routed.