2G scam: tainted Maran quits cabinet

Textiles minister Dayanidhi Maran resigned from the union government this morning, a day after the Central Bureau of Investigation officially accused him of complicity in the now infamous 2G spectrum scam.

Soon after the cabinet meeting at Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's 7 Race Course residence, Maran met him separately and submitted his resignation.

Maran was union telecom minister from 2004 to 2007. The CBI alleges that during his regime, he virtually compelled the original promoter of telecom services company Aircel, C Sivasankaran, to sell his stake to Malaysia-based Maxis, which is run by T Anandakrishnan.

Sivasankaran ('Siva'), a serial entrepreneur, testified to the CBI that he was denied critical licenses by Maran till he finally agreed to sell his company to Maxis.

The CBI on Wednesday placed a fresh 71-page report before a Supreme Court bench of justices G S Singhvi and A K Ganguly, which is hearing spectrum-related cases, that Sivasankaran's allegations do not appear baseless.

The investigating agency said Maran ignored "unanimous" approval from other telecom officials to deliberately delay the spectrum allocation and licenses for Sivasankaran. Once Maxis bought the company, the licenses were quickly granted.