Justice has prevailed, says Dayanidhi Maran following acquittal, calls charges against him 'politically motivated'

Chennai: DMK leader and former telecom minister Dayanidhi Maran, who was discharged in the “illegal” telephone exchange case on Wednesday, said justice has prevailed and that he stood vindicated. A special CBI court discharged Dayanidhi, his brother Kalanithi and five other accused in the case on Wednesday. Last year, a Delhi court had cleared Dayanidhi, Kalanithi and the latter’s wife in the Aircel-Maxis case. [caption id=“attachment_4390891” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File image of Dayanidhi Maran. AFP[/caption] “Once again, justice has prevailed. I stand vindicated for the second time,” Dayanidhi Maran said in a statement. He said he has been saying from day one that these cases were “politically motivated and foisted falsely, out of jealousy and business rivalry against my brother and to defame me, my family and my party.” “In both cases, the court has found that there was neither merit nor substance in the allegations levelled against me and discharged me from these cases,” he said. He recalled he had resigned as Union minister when these allegations were levelled against him, so that he could prove his innocence in a court of law. “Now, I stand vindicated,” he added. He alleged lies were spread as news and “I was made to look like a villain”. “But truth triumphed in the end. This is a watershed moment for me. I take this opportunity to thank my beloved leader (DMK president M Karunanidhi), party members, family, friends and well-wishers who stood by me during these long and hard years,” he said. Meanwhile, he also met DMK working president MK Stalin after being discharged in the case. Holding that there was no sufficient material to frame charges against any of them, special judge S Natarajan allowed the petitions filed by the Maran brothers and others seeking their discharge. The CBI had alleged that an illegal private telephone exchange was set up at the city residence of Dayanidhi Maran during 2004-06, when he was the telecom minister and it was used for the business transactions involving the Sun network owned by his brother Kalanithi. The central agency had alleged that Dayanidhi had caused a loss of Rs 1.78 crore to the exchequer. During the hearing of the discharge petitions, the Maran brothers and others argued that they were innocent and did not commit any irregularities as alleged by the prosecution.