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| Dayanidhi Maran |
New Delhi, Sept. 28: The CBI today told the Supreme Court it would soon file an FIR in the 2G case against former telecom minister Dayanidhi Maran, his brother Kalanidhi and various Essar officials.
“We have completed the preliminary inquiry. A final decision would be taken on filing an FIR by September 30. We may need a few more days for this,” CBI counsel K.K. Venugopal told the court, trying to stave off criticism that the agency’s probe into the scam had been “less than honest”.
That allegation against the CBI came today from the Centre for Public Interest Litigation (CPIL), an NGO that backed the demand for a probe against former finance minister P. Chidambaram.
Dayanidhi had to step down from the textile ministry amid allegations that he had forced Aircel promoter C. Sivasankaran to sell his 74 per cent stake to the Mauritius-based Maxis group, believed to be close to the Maran family. Dayanidhi allegedly stalled the issue of licence to Sivasankaran on irrelevant grounds till he agreed to sell.
Some 14 applications from Aircel were pending with the telecom department. Sivasankaran wrote several times to Dayanidhi but to no avail. After he sold off his stake, all 14 applications were cleared.
Soon after, the Maran family-owned Sun TV, run by Kalanidhi, received substantial investment from Maxis.
Various Essar officials too will figure in the FIR. The Enforcement Directorate has claimed that the Ruia-owned Essar promoted Loop Telecom to get hold of spectrum licence and later acquired a substantial stake in it through a Mauritius-based front company.
While the rules allow only a ten per cent stake, the Ruias held a 41 per cent stake in Loop, the CBI says.
Monitor demand
CPIL counsel Prashant Bhushan has demanded that a team of independent experts oversee the CBI probe and report to the court. Tomorrow, the court will hear the views of the CBI and the Centre on this.
The court has sought a copy of the 500-page file that contains a finance ministry note, produced by Janata Party president Subramaniam Swamy, which suggests Chidambaram could have stopped the scam if he wanted to. Swamy wants the home minister probed, a demand that Bhushan backed today.