CBI names ex-Telecom Minister Dayanidhi Maran in Aircel Maxis deal chargesheet

Former Telecom Minister Dayanidhi Maran, his brother Kalanidhi Maran and six others, including four companies, were today chargesheeted by the CBI in a special court in the Aircel-Maxis deal case arising out of the investigation in the 2G spectrum allocation scam.

Besides the Maran brothers, the CBI has named Malaysian business tycoon T Ananda Krishnan, Ralph Marshall, a top executive and four companies, including Sun Direct TV Pvt Ltd and Malaysia's Maxis Communication Berhad, as accused in the case.

They have been chargesheeted for the offences punishable under section 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the IPC and under relevant provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act.

The charge sheet was filed before Special CBI Judge O P Saini who fixed it for consideration on September 11.

Former Telecom Secretary J S Sharma, who has died, has also been named in the charge sheet. However, his name has been put in a column of the accused against whom trial cannot proceed.
South Asia Entertainment Holding Ltd, Mauritius, and ASTRO All Asia Network plc have also been named as accused in the charge sheet.

It was filed a day after the Supreme Court turned down the plea of Dayanidhi Maran seeking to restrain CBI from filing the charge sheet, saying that investigation in the case is still going on.

CBI, in the Supreme Court, had alleged that Maran had "forced" Chennai-based telecom promoter C Sivasankaran to sell the stake in Aircel to Malaysian firm Maxis Group in 2006 owned by Ananda Krishnan.

In a status report filed in the apex court, which is monitoring 2G scam probe, CBI had earlier said that during 2004-07 when Maran was Telecom Minister, former Aircel chief C Sivasankaran was coerced to sell the stake in Aircel to Maxis Group.

According to CBI, the Malaysian firm was favoured by Maran and granted licence within six months after taking over Aircel in December 2006.

The agency had told the apex court that overseas probe was being delayed due to the influence of the firm's owner in Malaysia who is "powerful politically".

It had informed the apex court that overseas probe was important to track the money trail as the funds for the deal had come through Mauritius.

CBI in 2011 had filed its FIR in the case alleging that Maran had used his influence to help Krishnan acquire Aircel by allegedly coercing its owner Sivasankaran.

Maran, who has been examined by CBI, has denied all the allegations levelled against him and his family members.

The agency had also sought information from the Malaysian authorities through Letters Rogatory (LRs) but it did not get satisfactory response, after which the judicial requests were sent again. The reply to second LR is pending.

Also read:  Supreme Court refuses to stop CBI from filing charge sheet against Dayanidhi Maran in 2G case

What is the Aircel Maxis deal and why is Dayanidhi Maran in trouble?

The Aircel Maxis controversy has its roots in the infamous 2G spectrum scam case when the Supreme Court asked the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to investigate Dayanidhi Maran, the telecom minister before A Raja. Maran had to resign from the Union cabinet in April 2011.

Aircel is a telecom company owned by C Sivasankaran. Maxis is a Malaysian company owned by T Ananda Krishnan, popularly known as Tak. In 2006, Maxis acquired Aircel by buying 74% stake. Sivasankaran complained to the CBI in April 2011 that Maran had arm twisted hi to sell his stake to Maxis.

CBI's FIR: Maran's role in the deal

In October 2011, as reported by Firstpost, the CBI filed a first information report (FIR) against Maran that alleged that he received Rs 549 crore for favouring Aircel in various deals that were owned by Maxis. The amount was allegedly received by a company owned by Dayanidhi Maran's brother, Kalanidhi Maran. Kalanidhi Maran controls the Sun TV Network.

The allegations were as follows: On June 1 2007, Enam Securities in a valuation pegged the value of Sun TV between Rs 3,465.76 crore and Rs 4,039 crore. This is a gross over valuation given Tata Sky's vale even after rolling out DTH services was Rs 2500 crore.

Maran had cleared various deals and licences for Maxis, and Maxis's sister company Astro invested Rs 629 crore in Sun TV to buy 20% of its stake. This puts the share price of Sun TV at Rs 69.57 while Kalanidhi Maran bought the remaining 80% stake at Rs 10 per share.

The FIR also mentioned how Dayanidhi Maran had counselled Sivasankaran into selling his stake of Aircel to Maxis. Maran would neither give spectrum to Siva despite repeated applications, nor would he grant him an appointment to meet. Siva was “arm twisted” into selling his stake to Maxis, and soon after Astro invested the money in Sun TV. 

Deadlock in investigation

In May 2014, the CBI told the Supreme Court that there was difference of opinion between the CBI director and the investigating officers over filing the chargesheet against Maran. As a result, they had to refer the case to the Attorney General. One of the petitioners in the case, Prashant Bhushan told the Court that the CBI was sitting on the decision for six months. The court asked Rajeshwar Singh, the deputy director of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to continue with the investigation, which he was not allowed to previously according to Subramanian Swamy's allegations.

What the Attorney General's statement means

The attorney general has now asked the CBI to go ahead and file a chargesheet against both Kalanidhi and Dayanidhi Maran. Mukul Rohatgi, the AG in India, said there was enough evidence against the DMK leader and his brother to do so. If the CBI goes ahead with the AG's advice, Dayanidhi Maran will be the second DMK minister after A Raja to be implicated in the case. Raja is already in jail for the 2G spectrum case, which is still under trial.