JOIN USMore dimensions of the gigantic 2G spectrum scam are coming out into the open with media disclosures about certain decisions of Union textiles minister Dayanidhi Maran and the favours companies owned by his family allegedly received in return for those decisions. Maran was the Union communications minister during the period 2004-07 before A Raja assumed charge of the ministry. Raja’s wrongful allocation of 2G spectrum and DMK MP Kanimozhi’s role in it have been widely discussed and are being investigated. Both are in jail. According to the latest disclosures, Maran too had misused his office, caused losses to the public exchequer and made illegal gains from his actions as a minister.
The crux of the charges is that Maran had allocated 2G licences cheaply to a telecom company Aircel after it was taken over by a Malaysian group, Maxis, which later made heavy investments in Sun Direct TV Pvt Ltd, a company owned by the Maran family. Aircel had earlier been denied a licence on flimsy grounds and was forced to sell itself to the Malaysian group, probably according to a well-laid plan. FDI norms in the telecom sector were changed and the power to decide the spectrum price was taken away from a group of ministers to the ministry on his own demand. These were allegedly to facilitate the arbitrary and questionable allotment. The modus operandi was similar to what Raja later adopted. The Rs 700 crore investment made by the Malaysian company in the Sun group media company is similar to the Rs 200 crore received by Kalaignar TV from a beneficiary of Raja’s largesse. An affidavit filed in the Supreme Court has sought a CBI probe into Maran’s role in the scam.
Maran has made a blanket denial of the charges but the denial sounds very much like the refutations and protestations of innocence made by Raja when the 2G scandal broke out. He has not been able to deny the specific charges and there is prima facie much to be explained. The response of the Congress party that the joint parliamentary committee, which is investigating the 2G spectrum scandal, can extend the scope of its inquiry into these charges is inadequate. Maran has no option but to quit until his name is cleared. There is need for registration of case and a separate investigation by the CBI which should help to uncover the alleged irregularities and fix responsibility for them.