Maran bros discharged in telephone exchange case; Vindicated

In a relief to DMK leader and former telecom minister Dayanidhi Maran, a special CBI court here today discharged him, his brother Kalanithi and five other accused in the "illegal" telephone exchange case.

Holding that there was no sufficient material to frame charges against any of them, Special judge S Natarajan allowed the petitions filed by the Maran brothers and others seeking their discharge.

The judge had on March 9 reserved orders for today in the case related to alleged 700 telephone line exchange set up at the residence of Dayanidhi Maran in 2004-06 when he was the minister and its 'misuse' for Sun TV owned by his brother.

Other accused who have been discharged are former BSNL general manager K Brahmanathan, former BSNL deputy general manager M P Velusamy, Dayanidhi Maran's private secretary V Gauthaman, and K S Ravi and S Kannan of Sun TV.

"I now stand vindicated..I believe in our judicial system, I am so happy that justice has triumphed," Dayanidhi told Times Now, reacting to the court's verdict.

He dubbed the charges against him in the case as "exaggerated lies, sensationalised lies."