NEW DELHI - Indian police filed graft charges Monday against five people including the daughter of a key ally in the ruling coalition over an alleged multi-billion-dollar mobile phone licence sale fraud.
The charges name the daughter of the chief minister of southern Tamil Nadu state as a conspirator in the alleged rigging of the sale of second-generation (2G) mobile licences, the Central Bureau of Investigation said. The daughter, Kanimozhi, who goes by one name, sits in parliament's upper house as a member of the regional Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) party which is a key partner of the Congress-led federal coalition government. Kanimozhi, whose father M. Karunanidhi leads the DMK, was one of five people accused as police filed their second set of charges in the probe into the alleged fraud. Police have already arrested 11 people including former telecom minister A. Raja as part of their investigation into allegations that telecom licences were sold at cut-rate prices in 2008 in exchange for kickbacks. Raja is also a member of the DMK. Police also said they planned to call the DMK chief's wife, Dayalu Ammal, as a witness, according to the Press Trust of India. The latest developments are expected to aggravate already difficult relations between the Congress party and the DMK which backs the ruling coalition with 18 seats in the 543-member lower house of parliament, helping give the alliance a slim majority. The Congress party holds 207 seats. Kanimozhi and the four others charged Monday have been summoned to appear May 6 before a special court created to speed up the high-profile case. "There is enough incriminating material on record to proceed against the accused persons," Special Judge O.P. Saini said. The allged fraud cost the country's treasury up to $40 billion in lost revenue, according to the national auditor, while the federal Central Bureau of Investigation has estimated losses at around $6.7 billion. All the accused have denied any wrongdoing in the scandal. Scandals ranging from the Delhi Commonwealth Games last October to the 2G telecom sale have sapped the popularity of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's administration and rattling foreign investors. Monday's developments followed the arrest of the former chief of the Commonwealth Games, Suresh Kalmadi, on graft allegations. AFP