NEW DELHI:The Supreme Court on Friday recalled its order refusing to entertain the petitions of former Telecom Minister Dayanidhi Maran and his brother Kalanithi Maran to quash summons in the Aircel-Maxis case by a CBI special court hearing the 2G case.
Just before a Bench comprising justices V Gopalagowda and R Banumathi was about to rise for the lunch break, Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Pinky Anand mentioned the case on behalf of the CBI that all matters arising out of the 2G scam probe were being heard by a Bench headed by the Chief Justice of India (CJI).
The ASG said there is a specific SC order that any matter arising out of the 2G spectrum case has to be heard by it and no other court in the country shall entertain it. Taking on record the submission of the ASG, the Bench recalled its order and posted it before the Bench headed by Chief Justice H L Dattu on February 9.
The Bench had in the morning asked the Marans to approach the Delhi High Court for relief. It said it was not inclined to interfere in the matter which had arisen out of the 2G scam probe. “You have to exhaust your remedy under Article 226 of the Constitution and then come here. We don’t see any issue of fundamental jurisdiction here. If we say anything, every person will come here saying their fundamental right is violated. We can’t interfere as the chargesheet has already been filed. If there is no case against you (Marans), then you can ask for a discharge,” the Bench said after which the Marans withdrew their petition.
Senior lawyer C A Sundaram, appearing for Dayanidhi, said this case is not related to the 2G spectrum allocation probe and not a single licence was allotted by Dayanidhi during his tenure as telecom minister.
A special 2G court had summoned the Maran brothers and six others, including Malaysian business tycoon T Ananda Krishnan as accused in the Aircel-Maxis deal case. The CBI court had asked them to appear before it on March 2 after taking cognisance of the chargesheet filed against eight accused, including Sun Direct TV Pvt Ltd, Maxis Communication Berhad, Astro All Asia Network PLC and South Asia Entertainment Holding Ltd.