A special court here on Thursday discharged all accused in the Aircel-Maxis deal case, including former Communications Minister Dayanidhi Maran.
Special Judge OP Saini was hearing two different matters related to Aircel-Maxis deal lodged by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED).
The court discharged Maran, his brother Kalanithi Maran, Kalanithi's wife Kavery Kalanithi, South Asia FM Ltd (SAFL) Managing Director K Shanmugam and two companies — SAFL and Sun Direct TV Pvt Ltd (SDTPL) in both the cases.
The CBI had alleged that Dayanidhi Maran, as Minister in the UPA-I government, used his influence to help Malaysian businessman TA Ananda Krishnan buy Aircel by coercing its owner Sivasankaran to part with his stake.
The CBI has chargesheeted Maran, Kalanithi Maran, Sun Direct TV, Krishnan, his aide Augustus Ralph Marshall and the two accused firms — Maxis Communications Berhad and Astro All Asia Networks, both of Malaysia.
The chargesheet was filed under Section 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code and other relevant provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act.
In the other case, the Enforcement Directorate has chargesheeted Maran brothers, Kavery Kalanithi, Shanmugam, SAFL and Sun Direct TV for laundering Rs.742.58 crore.
(With inputs from agencies)