Former union minister Dayanidhi Maran has been accused by the CBI of using 300 government-owned phone lines for Sun TV, the media network owned by his brother, Kalanidhi, in Tamil Nadu.
A case filed against the ex-minister says hundreds of high-speed telephone lines were allotted to his residence while he was Telecom Minister; these were actually routed to the offices of Sun TV through underground cables.
Two officials who worked for the state-run BSNL have also been named in the CBI case.
The CBI began its enquiry in 2011, nearly four years after receiving complaints that a ‘virtual’ telephone exchange had been configured at Mr Maran’s house for illicit use by SunT V.
Sources said these were not special lines that could transmit huge amounts of data.
Mr Maran is also being investigated for allegedly misusing his office as Telecom Minister to force C Sivasankaran to sell his company, Aircel, to the Maxis Group, which is based in Malaysia. The CBI claims that in return, the Malaysian firm’s owner, T Ananda Krishnan, invested nearly 600 crores in Sun TV.
