Aircel - Maxis deal: special CBI court issues letters rogatory to UK, Bermuda, Malaysian and Mauritius
16 Apr 2012
The special CBI court issued letters rogatory (LRs) to four countries - the UK, Bermuda, Malaysia and Mauritius - asking for details regarding the controversial Aircel-Maxis deal
Former telecom minister, Dayanidhi Maran is an accused in the case related to the deal. He is alleged to have coerced Aircel founder C Sivasankaran to sell the business to Maxis Communication, owned by Malaysian tycoon T Anantha Krishnan.
An illegal gratification of Rs550 crore was allegedly received by the Marans in the Aircel-Maxis deal in the garb of share premium invested in Sun Direct TV (where Dayanidhi Maran's elder brother Kalanithi is the managing director) by Maxis Communication.
The case also names Ralph Marshal of the Maxis Group.
Maran had resigned from the cabinet last year after allegations were made that he had favoured Malaysia's Maxis over Aircel in the grant of telecom licences in 2004-05.
The ED case states that Maxis invested Rs550 crore in Sun TV and Sun DTH in return for a stake in Aircel. The process of granting a 2G licence to Aircel was deliberately held up till an agreement was signed between Maxis and the promoters of Aircel for ownership change, the investigating agency says.
