A CBI special court in Chennai has said charges would be framed against former Union Minister Dayanidhi Maran and his elder brother Kalanidhi Maran on October 3, in the illegal telephone exchange case.

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The charges will be framed four years after the CBI registered an FIR against the Maran brothers. The duo had illegally set up high-end telecommunication facilities in their residence in Chennai under the service category of BSNL, which caused a loss to the exchequer.On Friday, Dayanidhi Maran and four others accused in the case, appeared before XIV Special Judge for CBI cases, S Natarajan, who posted the matter for framing of charges on October 3. Dayanidhi's brother Kalanidhi had filed a petition seeking to dispense with his personal appearance before the CBI court. The judge directed appearance of all the seven accused on October 3, to frame charges based on the chargesheet filed by the CBI.The case relates to the alleged misuse of 764 high-speed data lines of Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) at the residence of Dayanidhi Maran when he was the Union Telecom Minister between 2004 and 2007. The CBI had alleged that the data lines were utilised for Sun TV, owned by Kalanithi, and no bills were raised, thereby causing a loss of Rs 1.78 crore to the exchequer.

The court had on August 11 directed the CBI to provide typed copies of the case documents to the Maran brothers. The two had moved the court seeking deferment of the framing of charges against them, saying several documents submitted by the CBI were illegible.

The chargesheet was filed on the allegations of installing a number of high-end telecommunication facilities at the residence of Dayanidhi Maran.

Apart from Maran brothers, former BSNL General Manager K Brahmnathan, Former Deputy General Manager MP Velusamy, V Gowthaman, the then additional private secretary to Dayanidhi Maran, S Kannan, Chief Technical Assistant of Sun TV, and KS Ravi, the electrician of Sun TV, were arrayed as accused in the case.