Former Communications Minister Dayanidhi Maran and his brother Kalanithi Maran on Monday appeared before a Special court in Delhi in the Aircel-Maxis deal case and applied for bail.
Special Judge O.P. Saini posted their bail applications for hearing on March 16 and asked the Central Bureau of Investigation to file replies to their plea.
The Maran brothers appeared before the court on a summons issued by the court after taking cognisance of the charge-sheet filed in the matter last year.
The chargesheet said that the Maran brothers had entered into a criminal conspiracy and made pecuniary gains for themselves in the deal.
It further mentioned that they had entered into conspiracy with T. Ananda Krishnan, owner of the Malaysian company Maxis, and coerced C. Sivasankaran, owner of Aircel, to sell his shares to Mr. Krishnan allegedly in lieu of investments in Sun Direct TV Pvt. Ltd.
Maxis owner also named
Besides the Marans, the CBI has named T. Ananda Krishnan, owner of Malaysian company Maxis, Ralph Marshall, a senior executive of the Maxis Group, and four companies, including the Sun Direct TV Pvt. Ltd, as accused in the case.
Former Telecom Secretary J.S Sharma, who has since passed away, has also been mentioned as an accused in the charge sheet but he has been put in column 2 of the charge-sheet meant for those who won’t be tried.
The CBI had in 2011 registered an FIR stating that C. Sivasankaran, owner of Aircel, who had sought spectrum licence, was forced to sell his company to Maxis. In March 2006, the Maxis Group bought 74 per cent stakes in Aircel.
It was further alleged that the Department of Telecom had in 2006 issued 14 Letters of Intent to Aircel and all of them were converted into licences. Thereafter, Mr. Maran’s family-owned company, Sun Direct, received substantial investment from the Maxis Group in the form of 20 per cent equity in it. The Maxis Group invested a total of Rs. 599 crore in Sun Direct between 2007 and 2009, the charge-sheet.
Published - March 01, 2015 10:23 am IST
