2G scam: FIR against Dayanidhi Maran by month-end,says CBI

The agency also said investigation against the Essar Group was still on and it would 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 on Wednesday,said preliminary inquiry on the alleged involvement of Maran in 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 CBI,told a Bench of justices G S Singhvi and A K Ganguly.

Venugopal said there was delay in filing the third chargesheet in the case as investigation was still on against Maran. It is also probing the Essar Group for allegedly creating a front company,Loop Telecom,for “illegally” securing the licence for 2G spectrum.

Essar Group has denied allegations of wrongdoing in the scam,contending Loop Telecom was not its front company. It even cited a ‘clean chit’ from the Ministry of Corporate Affairs in its defence.

Venugopal,who read the portion of the status report about the probe on Maran’s role,said CBI has written a letter to a particular company abroad and the follow through was in progress.

Venugopal was referring to the probe into the sale of Aircel to Malaysia-based Maxis Group.

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 CBI said it was investigating a complaint against him filed by C Sivasankaran who owned Aircel in 2006.

The senior advocate said CBI has examined 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 without reading out the details of the report on the issue.

It has been alleged by former Aircel chief C Sivasankaran that Maran – as the then Telecom minister – withheld licences to his company. He then “favoured” Maxis-group in the takeover of his company and,in return,investments were made by Maxis in Sun TV,which is owned by the Maran family.

Sivasankaran had alleged his applications for licences were rejected when Maran was minister in 2006,forcing him to sell his company to Maxis,whose owner is considered to be close to Maran and his brother Kalanidhi.

The licence to Aircel was granted once the ownership of Aircel was transferred to Malaysian telecom major Maxis Communication,it has been alleged.

The CBI,in an earlier status report to the Supreme Court,said during Maran’s tenure there was “deliberate delay” to provide letter of intent to Sivasankaran.

The agency has also said after Aircel was sold to Maxis,investments were made by the Malaysian firm into the family business of Marans’.

The agency is now focusing on the role of Maran when the grant of licence to C Sivasankaran-owned Aircel was delayed.

The agency had also claimed before the apex court that it had not found any evidence of “coercion” against Maran regarding the sale of Aircel to Maxis.

A few weeks ago,Dayanidhi Maran was questioned by the CBI for over five hours on alleged irregularities in 2G spectrum allocation.

During the interrogation,Maran is understood to have denied all allegations against him including his role in the Aircel takeover by Maxis,they said.

A top executive of the Maxis group,Ralph Marshall,CEO of Astro,which invested in Sun TV,and also a board member of Malaysia-based Maxis,was questioned this month by CBI in connection with alleged irregularities in spectrum allotment during Maran’s tenure as Telecom minister.

CBI had also questioned Executive Director of Apollo Hospital Suneeta Reddy on the alleged role of Maran in the takeover of Aircel by Maxis.

During the last hearing,CBI had rubbished the reports that Maran had been given a clean chit in the scam.

The probe agency has already registered a preliminary inquiry on issues in 2G spectrum allocation between 2001-07 and is actively looking into the matter.