Siva nails Maran, says he was forced to sell Aircel

Time is running out for Textiles Minister Dayanidhi Maran, the second DMK minister after Andimuthu Raja who has been accused of favouring select parties for the grant of telecom licences and spectrum. Maran was Raja’s predecessor as Communications Minister. Raja is now in jail.

Close on the heels of a Firstpost story which pointed out that he had sat on requests from Dishnet Wireless (later renamed Aircel) for licences and spectrum - probably as a pressure tactic - CNBC TV-18 confirms that this was indeed the case.

Aircel’s previous owner, C Sivasankaran, in an appearance before the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Monday, apparently told the agency that Maran, when he was Communications Minister during 2004-07, forced him to sell his stake. The stake was ultimately bought by Malaysian company Maxis, owned by Sri Lankan Tamil Ananda Krishnan.

Reacting to this report, Dayanidhi Maran claimed that no one - least of all a multi-billionaire like Sivasankaran - could be forced to sell his company to any one. Even if that was the case, he could have gone to court. Maran showed press reports of 2004 indicating that Sivasankaran was keen to sell the company even before he became minister in 2004.

However, the fact remains that Maran started releasing licences and spectrum only after Sivasankaran sold the company. A Tehelka magazine article last week alleged that Maran’s brother Kalanithi, who owns Sun TV, got a payoff in the form of a Rs 750 crore investment in Sun Direct, a direct-to-home company.

According to a report in Firstpost last week, Maran did not clear Aircel’s applications for telecom licences and spectrum in more circles till after Sivasankaran (“Siva”) sold it to Maxis. The unstated allegation was that Dayanidhi did not want Siva to get licences, and wanted to favour Maxis, for reasons best known to him. Maran allocated 14 circles and related spectrum to Aircel after Maxis took over.

Sivasankaran claimed that as soon as Maxis came into the picture, Aircel was awarded licences for seven more telecom circles. Aircel is a joint venture between Maxis Communications Berhad of Malaysia and Sindya Securities & Investments Pvt Ltd, whose shareholders are the Reddy family of Chennai. Maxis Communications holds a majority stake of 74 percent.

Aircel operates in all 23 telecom circles in India. The company applied for licences before the UPA came to power in 2004. Applications put in before the UPA entered the scene were cleared expeditiously by the previous Communications Minister, Arun Shourie, but once Dayanidhi Maran became minister, the clearances stopped. The Shivraj Patil report commissioned by the UPA government to look at the grant of telecom licences over the last decade had also pointed out unnecessary delays in the grant of licences to Aircel.

Maran has said that he did not favour any company in granting UASL (united access service licences) when he was Communications Minister. He also claimed that the Maxis Group’s investment in Sun Direct happened long after he had ceased to be Communications Minister. But the Firstpost report suggests otherwise.

Meanwhile, a New Indian Express report also disclosed that the CBI was probing the use of a free private telephone exchange by Maran which was actually used by Sun TV to reduce its costs.