The CBI has made it clear that the agency is not going to trust his words and will verify facts before reaching any conclusion on his allegations against the Union textile minister.
A day after recording former Aircel chief Sivasankaran’s statement, the CBI has made it clear that the agency is not going to trust his words and will verify facts before reaching any conclusion on his allegations against Union textile minister Dayanidhi Maran.
“We need to cross check facts and check records provided by Sivasankaran. Only then, a case would be registered against Dayanidhi Maran. Moreover, we can not ignore Maran’s explanation in media on the allegations,” a top CBI official told DNA.
Maran has said Sivasankaran was planning to sell the company even before he became telecom minister, citing media reports published in 2004.
The CBI, which is already conducting a Preliminary Enquiry over 2G spectrum allocation between 2010 and 2007, is required to take permission from the prime minister’s office before lodging an FIR.
“Since Maran is a cabinet minister, we need to take approval from the Prime Minister’s Office to name him in the FIR. We are gathering evidence to lodge case,” a CBI official said. The agency is examining the alleged quid pro quo between the Maxis Group and Sun TV, owned by Dayanidhi’s brother Kalanidhi.
On Monday, Sivasankaran, a non-resident Indian who rarely makes public appearances, claimed before CBI that harassment by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), which repeatedly rejected his applications for mobile network licences, forced him to sell his company to Malaysian firm Maxis , controlled by T Anandakrishnan.
It is learnt that Anandakrishnan is considered close to Maran and his brother, Kalanidhi, who owns Sun TV. Dayanidhi allegedly forced Sivasankaran to sell the stake to Maxis before awarding 14 telecom licences.
In return, Maxis made an investment of around Rs600 crore in Sun TV. Maxis has 74% stake in Aircel which has presence in 23 telecom circles nation-wide.
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