CHENNAI: Former Union telecom minister Dayanidhi Maran, and his elder brother and the chairman of Sun Group, Kalanidhi Maran, appeared before the special court for CBI cases here in Chennai that is hearing the case related to the alleged illegal telephone exchange that was functioning in the former’s residence.
When the case came up for hearing on Monday, the CBI informed the XIV special judge for CBI cases, Bhaskaran, that the documents that were to be served on the brother were not ready. Following this, the matter was adjourned and the next hearing has been fixed on April 22.
The case against the Maran brothers is that of misusing Dayanidhi Maran’s office as the minister for communication to set up a secret telephone exchange at his home in Chennai.
This network, connected using high volume data lines, was allegedly misused to transmit large packets
of data for Kalanidhi Maran-led Sun TV.
According to the CBI, the operation of this exchange that had over 700 lines has led to a loss of `1.78 crore to the public exchequer.
The accused also includes the then general manager of BSNL, K Brahmnathan, former deputy general manager M P Velusamy, Dayanidhi Maran’s private secretary Gowthaman, and two lower level staff from the Sun Group - Kannan and Ravi. The last three were arrested two years ago, but the brothers managed to obtain anticipatory bail from the High Court.