The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has told the Supreme Court that there was no evidence to suggest that the former Communications Minister, Mr Dayanidhi Maran, used coercive methods to force Mr C. Sivasankaran to sell his stakes in telecom company, Aircel, to the Malaysia-based Maxis group.
Senior counsel Mr K.K. Venugopal, appearing for the probe agency, told the Apex Court Bench of Mr Justice G.S. Singhvi and Mr Justice A.K. Ganguly that the CBI “may examine” the then Finance Minister, Mr Jaswant Singh, over the alleged wrongdoings in the Communications Ministry in the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance government.
He told the court that Mr Jaswant Singh headed the Empowered Group of Ministers (EGOM) when Mr Arun Shourie was the Communications Minister between 2003-04.
The CBI told the court that it would complete its investigation into suspicious transactions linked to the 2G allocation by September 31.
Talking about the allegations against Mr Maran, Mr Venugopal said there was no evidence of coercion used by the DMK Minister, Mr Maran in the sale of Aircel by Mr Sivasankaran to Maxis.
Maxis was in touch with Mr Maran before Mr Sivasankaran off-loaded his stakes in the telecom company.
The DMK spokesperson, Mr Elangovan told IANS in Chennai, “The whole 2G case is without any evidence. The cases against Mr Raja and Ms Kanimozhi will also fail.”
The CBI told the apex court that there was a deliberate and undue delay on the part of the DoT and the (then) Minister in the issuance of letter of intent to Aircel under its previous owner and “undue favour was shown” the moment the company was taken over by the Maxis group.
It was alleged that Mr Maran created a situation that forced Mr Sivasankaran to sell his stake in Aircel to the Maxis Group, believed to be close to the Minister's family.
Mr Venugopal also gave to court the CBI's status report on its investigations into the 2G scam in a sealed cover. One report each was submitted by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Income-Tax department.
The CBI said the investigation into the alleged wrongdoings in the Communications Ministry was broadly in four parts dealing with the tenures of communications ministers, Mr Pramod Mahajan (2002-03), Mr Arun shourie (2003-04), Mr Dayanidhi Maran (2004-07) and Mr A. Raja (2007-10).
The court will hear on September 8 the Janata Party Chief, Mr Subramanian Swamy's application seeking investigations into the role of (the then Finance Minister) and the present Home Minister, Mr P. Chidambram, into the 2G imbroglio.
The judges indicated that they may hold daily hearing from September 14 onwards.