No evidence of Maran's connection in Aircel deal, CBI tells apex court

Senior counsel K.K. Venugopal, appearing for the probe agency, told the apex court bench of Justice G.S. Singhvi and Justice A.K. Ganguly that the CBI "may examine" the then finance minister Jaswant Singh over alleged wrongdoings in the communications ministry in the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance government.

He told the court that Jaswant Singh headed the empowered group of ministers (EGOM) when Arun Shourie was the communications minister between 2003-04.

The CBI told the court that it would complete its investigation into suspicious transactions linked to the 2G allocation by Sep 31.

Talking about allegations against Maran, Venugopal said there was no evidence of coercion used by DMK leader Maran in the sale of Aircel by Sivasankaran to Maxis. Maxis was in touch with Maran before Sivasankaran off-loaded his stakes in the telecom company.

DMK spokesperson Elangovan told IANS in Chennai: "The whole 2G case is without any evidence. The cases against Raja and Kanimozhi will also fail."

The CBI told the apex court that there was deliberate and undue delay on the part of the DoT (department of telecommunication) and the (then) minister in the issuance of letter of intent to Aircel under its previous owner and "undue favour was shown" the moment the company was taken over by the Maxis group.

It was alleged that Maran created a situation that forced Sivasankaran to sell his stake in Aircel to Maxis group, believed to be close to the minister's family.

Venugopal also gave to court the CBI's status report on its investigations into the 2G scam in a sealed cover. One report each was submitted by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Income Tax department.

The CBI said the investigation into the alleged wrongdoings in the communications ministry was broadly in four parts dealing with the tenures of communications ministers Pramod Mahajan (2002-03), Arun shourie (2003-04), Dayanidhi Maran (2004-07) and A. Raja (2007-10).

Venugopal said that the CBI found little evidence of lapses during Arun Shourie's tenure, but there were variations in the policy and its implementation in Pramod Mahajan's tenure and it was being further investigated.

The investigating agency told the court that in respect of a service provider it was revealed that one company was the "alter ego" of the other and both were held by the same group of persons.

The ED told the court that it had already affected attachments under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) of assets totalling Rs.223 crore. The transaction involved Kalaignar TV and others for "circuitous" money transfer.

The court was told that proceedings had been initiated in respect of Rs.10,000 crore under the PMLA and the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA). Letters seeking information had already been sent to Jersey and Isle of Man, Mauritius and Cayman Islands.

The ED said a team would shortly leave for Switzerland. The report said that in the course of its investigation it had come across a fresh set of companies suspected to be involved in the 2G scam.

The judges were told that the financial intelligence unit had received information about 200 suspect accounts abroad which allegedly could be traced to 2G scam transactions.

The court will hear Sep 8 Janata Party chief Subramanian Swamy's application seeking investigations into the role of (the then finance minister) and present Home Minister P. Chidambram into 2G imbroglio.

The judges indicated that they may hold daily hearing from Sep 14 onwards.