FIR AGAINST DAYANIDHI MARAN IN 2 G

FIR AGAINST DAYANIDHI MARAN IN 2 G

The Central Bureau of Investigation on Wednesday told the Supreme Court that it has got evidence against Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam MP Dayanidhi Maran in the 2G spectrum scam and will file an FIR against him within a couple of days for various offences. The agency also said investigation against Essar Group was still on and it will take another two weeks to complete it. The CBI, which filed a fresh status report in a sealed cover about the progress of the investigation, said the preliminary inquiry on the alleged involvement of Mr. Maran in the 2G scam has been completed and Letters Rogatory (LR) have been dispatched to Mauritius.

“The preliminary inquiry with regard to Maran has been concluded and FIR has to be registered against everyone. A few more days are needed for the FIR and can be lodged by month-end,” senior advocate K.K. Venugopal, appearing for the CBI, told a bench of justices G.S. Singhvi and A.K. Ganguly. Mr. Venugopal was referring to the probe into the sale of Aircel to Malaysia-based Maxis Group. Mr. Maran was the Telecom Minister between May 2004 and May 2007. He was forced to resign as the Union Textiles Minister in July this year after the CBI said it was investigating a complaint against him filed by C. Sivasankaran who owned Aircel in 2006.

The senior advocate said the CBI has examined Mr. Sivasankaran and during the probe it has been found that “undue favour” was shown to the foreign firm and the allegation of quid pro quo arrangement in the dealing has been probed. “The money involved is about Rs. 549 crore,” he said. A top executive of the Maxis group, Ralph Marshall, CEO of Astro, which invested in Sun TV, owned by the Maran brother, and also a board member of Malaysia-based Maxis, was questioned this month by the CBI in connection with alleged irregularities in spectrum allotment during the tenure Mr. Maran as Telecom Minister.

The CBI had also questioned Executive Director of Apollo Hospital Suneeta Reddy on the alleged role of Mr. Maran in the takeover of Aircel by Maxis. However, when the bench wanted to know about the status of the probe on Essar group, Mr. Venugopal said “investigation is still on“. During the last hearing, the CBI had rubbished the reports that Mr. Maran has been given a clean chit in the scam. The CBI had on July 6 charged Mr. Maran in the Supreme Court with “forcing” a Chennai-based telecom promoter to sell his stakes in Aircel to Maxis in 2006.

                                                                      Prof. John Kurakar