Aircel-Maxis case: CBI to file status report in Supreme Court today

The agency is learnt to be building its case against former telecom minister Dayanidhi Maran

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is yet to finish the probe into the Aircel-Maxis case, even as it gets ready to file a status report on it in the Supreme Court on Thursday, a CBI official said. The agency is also in the process of conducting a forensic audit of the Aircel-Maxis deal to establish if there was any under-valuation. The CBI is learnt to be building its case against former telecom minister Dayanidhi Maran, but it is yet to find evidence to prove he took any bribe from Malaysia-based Maxis. The CBI, however, has maintained it would file a charge sheet with the available evidence in due course. The agency has not got replies to all its queries from Malaysia. The probe has indicated Maxis investments in India breached the permissible limit of foreign direct investments in telecom.

Ananda Krishnan, owner of Maxis, and the Maran family have known each other for long, it is believed. Aircel, denied a pan-India telecom licence earlier, was able to enter all circles after the Maxis takeover, C Sivasankaran, Aircel founder, had told CBI.

In April 2013, CBI had told the Supreme Court that there were “some difficulties” in the probe since the investigation had gone overseas. A team from CBI had also recently visited Malaysia to gather information regarding this case.

In October 2011, CBI had registered a case against Dayanidhi Maran, his brother and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam MP Kalanithi Maran along with Malaysian business tycoon and Maxis owner Krishnan and director Ralph Marshall. CBI had also named Sun Direct, Astro All Asia Networks and Maxis, along with some unknown officials, as co-accused.