Aircel ex-chief gives CBI banker witnesses
In what could be described as trouble increasing manifold for Union textiles minister Dayanidhi Maran, former Aircel chief C. Sivasankaran has reportedly provided names of witnesses to the CBI, the agency probing alleged irregularities in spectrum allocation between 2001 and 2007.
The names include those of bankers and lawyers, some of whom are based abroad. The CBI is, however, tight-lipped about the names of the bankers and lawyers. Mr Sivasankaran is likely to also depose before the Enforcement Directorate, which, too, is probing the case.
According to sources, Mr Sivasankaran has indirectly blamed Mr Maran and the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) for his exit from India. Sources, however, made it clear that the agency will question Mr Maran if it decides to convert its preliminary enquiry (PE), registered to probe irregulari
ties in spectrum allocation between 2001 and 2007, into a regular case. The agency has just begun its probe into this PE and will take at least a month to collect relevant documents from the authorities concerned in connection with this, sources added. The probe agency will also examine whether the bankers and lawyers named by Mr Sivasankaran could be made witnesses in the case, sources said.
“If the CBI finds sufficient evidence related to irregularities in spectrum allocation during Maran’s tenure and decides to convert the PE into a regular case, then the statement of Mr Sivasankaran will be crucial. He may become a witness in the case,” sources said. The CBI, a source added, is also probing why he took six years to depose before the agency when he should have lodged a complaint with the CBI when he was being pressured, as he claims, to sell his stake in Aircel to Maxis in 2006, sources said.
Mr Sivasankaran also alleged his applications for licences were rejected when Mr Maran was telecom minister in 2006, forcing him to sell his stake to Maxis. He also alleged that the Maxis owner is close to Mr Maran’s brother Kalanidhi, who owns Sun TV, sources added.
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