The Central Bureau of Investigation, on Monday, questioned Mr C. Sivasankaran, former Aircel owner, in connection with the probe into the 2G spectrum allocation scam.
Though the CBI was tight-lipped about the questioning, the agency's spokesperson, Mr Dharini Mishra, said there were “indications'' of a meeting between the CBI officials and the former Aircel chief.
Sources in the CBI said that Mr Sivasankaran was asked about the series of events and certain clarifications on alleged irregularities and violations in allocation of spectrum to Aircel, a telecom firm set up by him which was later acquired by the Malaysian company Maxis.
Mr Sivasankaran now heads a US-based conglomerate Siva Group, with operations in realty, telecom, shipping, energy, farm exports and e-education/software.
Sources said that his statement was recorded at an undisclosed location in the Capital. They also said that Mr Sivasankaran had said that he was forced by the then Telecom Minister, Mr Dayanidhi Maran, to sell his stake to Maxis.
Mr Sivasankaran is said to have told the CBI that his applications for licences were rejected in 2006 when Mr Maran was in charge of the Telecom portfolio.
He alleged that Maxis owner Mr T. Anandakrishnnan shared close ties with Mr Dayanidhi Maran and his brother Mr Kalanidhi Maran, who owns Sun TV.
Mr Dayanidhi Maran faces allegation of bending the rules for granting 14 licences to Dishnet Wireless, now Aircel, during his tenure as Telecom Minister. Mr Dayanidhi Maran is now Textiles Minister in UPA-II government.
Well-placed CBI sources said that after registering a Preliminary Enquiry (PE) in January, on the directions of the Supreme Court to go into allegations of wrongdoing and violations of the rules and the Government's telecom policy during 2001-2007, the CBI was looking at “all aspects.''
They said the CBI was also looking into financial transactions between Sun TV and Maxis, if any.
“We are also looking into what circumstances and how the Maxis group acquired Aircel,'' the sources said.
Spectrum allocation
The PE was registered against “unknown persons'' to detect any alleged anomaly in the “first-come-first-serve'' during the spectrum allocation between 2001 and 2007, which would also cover the period when BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) was in power. “The effort is to gather evidence and record statements of relevant persons to explore the possibility if the PE can be converted into a regular, full-fledged First Information Report (FIR),'' the sources said.
Mr Arun Shourie, who held the charge of Telecom Ministry during NDA regime between 2003 and 2004, has already been questioned by the CBI on February 25 in detail about the allocation of licences during that period.