CHENNAI : Charges were framed against former Union Telecom Minister Dayanidhi Maran and his elder brother and Sun TV network chief Kalanidhi Maran in connection with the decade-old multi-crore telephone exchange scam case.R Vasanthi, the XIV Additional Special Judge for CBI Cases, framed the charges, based on the charge-sheet filed by the CBI in December 2016, after recording the appearance of the two brothers and other accused before her, on Thursday. Criminal conspiracy under Sec. 120-B of the IPC, criminal breach of trust (Sec. 409), cheating (Sec. 420) and criminal misconduct by public servant (Sec. 13(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act) were the offences under which charges were framed.
When the judge read out the charges, all accused including the Maran brothers, pleaded not guilty. Recording the submission, the court posted the case to September 14 for trial.According to CBI, Dayanidhi, in the check period of June 2004 to December 2006, when he was Union Minister for Communication and Information Technology, misused his office and installed a private telephone exchange at his residences in Chennai and utilised the facility for business transactions involving the Sun Network, causing a loss of `1.78 crore to the exchequer. Over 700 telecom lines had been installed at their residences in Boat Club Road and Gopalapuram, CBI had alleged.