New Delhi, May 24: A broad smile was Kanimozhi's reply to a question from her half-brother M K Stalin on how was she doing in Tihar jail when they came face to face at a trial court here.
Stalin, clad in his trademark white shirt and dhoti, waited for 30 minutes at the Special CBI court at the Patiala House Court complex here for his sister to come. A composed Kanimozhi came inside the court of Judge O P Saini and smiled at her husband Aravindan and others present. Then, the senior DMK leader stood up and greeted former Telecom Minister A Raja, who is also in jail, and shook hands with him.
As he saw Kanimozhi walking near his seat, Stalin asked “How are you doing?”. Her answer was just a smile and all the three stood for a while before being nudged by DMK Parliamentary Party leader T R Baalu to sit. Stalin sat between Kanimozhi and Raja and got to know from them conditions in the jail and how they were being treated. All the three then settled for an interaction in Tamil that lasted 50 minutes.
“How is father?” a concerned Kanimozhi asked Stalin, to which he replied: “He is doing fine.” DMK chief M Karunanidhi had met Kanimozhi at the Tihar jail yesterday. Then, Kanimozhi asked her brother about the well-being of his family members in Chennai. In between, Kanimozhi and Raja were seen talking to each other.
Though the atmosphere was emotionally-charged, both Stalin and Kanimozhi were seen talking casually to each other. Every now and then during the conversation, Kanimozhi asked Stalin about Karunanidhi's health and also wanted to know when their father was leaving for Chennai. Stalin told both Kanimozhi and Raja that he would leave in the afternoon and Karunanidhi in the evening. The DMK leader also spoke to Sharad Kumar, the Managing Director of Kalaingar TV, and asked him how he was doing.
“Life is tough (in jail),” an emotional Kumar said as he asked his wife for some water.
Though Kanimozhi's husband Aravindan was present at the court room from the beginning, Stalin neither exchanged pleasantries nor spoke to him.
Kanimozhi's lawyer Shanmugasundaram explained to Stalin about the case and the bail application filed at the Delhi High Court.
Former state DMK Ministers, who came along with Stalin, also exchanged pleasantries with Kanimozhi and Raja and spoke to them for a while.
After spending nearly an hour with Kanimozhi, Stalin told her that he is leaving the court complex so that he can meet his father at the hotel where he is staying before he catches his flight to Chennai.
Kanimozhi stood and smiled as her brother left the court room. PTI
