News18.com
First published: February 2, 2017, 4:40 PM IST | Updated: 3 mins ago
Former Telecom Minister Dayanidhi Maran. (File photo)
New Delhi: A Delhi court on Thursday exonerated all the accused in the Airtel-Maxis case including the Maran brothers dealing a heavy blow to the CBI and Enforcement Directorate that has been probing the politically significant case for years.
The CBI had filed charge sheet against former Telecom Minister Dayanidhi Maran and his brother and head of Sun TV Network Kalanidhi Maran besides T. Ananda Krishnan, owner of Malaysian company Maxis, Ralph Marshall, a senior executive of the Maxis Group, and four companies, including the Sun Direct TV Pvt. Ltd.
The case’s genesis lies in a complaint filed by Aircel owner C. Sivasankaran alleging that he was pressurised to sell his stakes to Maxis. It is later alleged that the Maxis Group, which bought a 74% stake in Aircel in March 2006, invested Rs742 crore in Sun Direct between 2007 and 2009.
Both the Maran brothers were in the court today, but refused to comment to the media.
Sources said both ED and CBI are likely to appeal in a higher court.