Aircel-Maxis Case: Maran brothers absolved of all charges

New Delhi: Former Telecom Minister Dayanidhi Maran, his brother Kalanidhi Maran and others were absolved of the corruption and money laundering charges in the Aircel-Maxis deal by a special court here on Thursday.

Delivering the verdict, Special Judge OP Saini said, "I discharge all the accused in the two cases."

The corruption case was being investigated by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), while the Enforcement Directorate (ED) probed the money laundering charges.

Also Read: Rahul Gandhi alleges Kejriwal’s involvement in Bhatinda blasts

The CBI had claimed in its chargesheet that the former Minister cooked a criminal conspiracy with T. Ananda Krishnan, owner of Malaysia-based company Maxis, and forced Aircel owner Chinnakannan Sivasankaran to sell his shares to the former, allegedly in return to the investments by the foreign company through another company into Sun Direct TV Pvt. Ltd.

It may be mentioned that Dayanidhi Maran is one of the promoters of Sun Direct.

The ED had also alleged that a whopping amount of Rs 742.58 crore was paid to Dayanidhi Maran by two Mauritius-based companies through Sun Direct TV Pvt. Ltd. and South Asia FM Ltd.

Both the companies are owned and controlled by Kalanidhi Maran and the money was used by these companies in their business, the complaint further quoted.