Aircel-Maxis case: Special CBI court rejects plea challenging its jurisdiction
The special CBI court rules that it has jurisdiction to hear the Aircel-Maxis case where then telecom minister, Dayanidhi Maran and his brother Kalanithi Maran have been summoned as accused
New Delhi: A special CBI court on Saturday ruled that it had jurisdiction to hear the Aircel-Maxis case where then telecom minister, Dayanidhi Maran and his brother Kalanithi Maran have been summoned as accused.
A challenge to the special CBI courts’ jurisdiction to hear the case was brought by the Maran brothers.
“The pleas stand dismissed." said special CBI judge, O.P Saini while rejecting Marans’ challenge to its jurisdiction by classifying the case as a non-2G case.
On 16 March, 2015, the Maran brothers had moved separate petitions challenging the jurisdiction of special 2G court to try the Aircel-Maxis deal case.
The Aircel-Maxis case is related to allegations that then telecom minister Dayanidhi Maran had forced Aircel owner C. Sivasankaran to transfer his ownership to Maxis Communications Berhad in 2006.
The Malaysian company, in return, invested in Kalanithi Maran’s Sun Direct, the direct-to-home TV arm of his Sun TV Network Ltd.
Besides the Maran brothers, T. Ananda Krishnan and Augustus Ralph Marshall, the court had also summoned four companies—Sun Direct TV Pvt. Ltd, Maxis Communication Bhd, South Asia Entertainment Holding Ltd and Astro All Asia Network Plc—as accused in the case.
Last month, CBI had sought issue of arrest warrants against two Malaysian nationals and two companies (Maxis Communication Berhad and Astro All Asia Network Plc) accused as summons had not been served on them.
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