Paradise Paper reveals about Dayanidhi Maran’s significance in brother Kalanithi Maran company’s illegal transactions in Airtel-Maxis case. Records show that Appleby prepared a document on May 22, 2012, when Astro was anticipating that a Letter Rogatory would be filed by the CBI to Malaysia government.
The Appleby document dated April 22, 2015, states that they have been instructed by directors of South Asia Entertainment Holdings Ltd to carry out a due diligence on the investments made by the latter in Sun Direct TV and confirm that the investments are made in accordance with the laws of Mauritius.
The Special CBI Court in New Delhi gives a clean chit to all accused in Aircel-Maxis case by withdrawing all allegations without any documentary evidence to substantiate it. The order was made by Judge OP Saini on February 2, 2017.
The 424-page Court order of Judge and hundreds of more pages of submissions, clarifications, and internal company documents now form part of Appleby records since Astro, the Malaysian company implicated in the case, sought its legal advice during the six-year-long course of the case.
Dayanidhi Maran was Telecom Minister in the UPA government. The principal allegation of the CBI was that the $122 million that a subsidiary company of Astro paid for taking a 20% stake in a company of Dayanidhi’s brother, Kalanithi Maran, was quid pro quo for the purchase of stake by another Astro-linked company, Maxis, in Aircel Televentures Ltd, another telecom firm.
According to the FIR, T Ananda Krishnan is the common promoter of Astro All Asia Networks as well as Maxis Communications. Also, a company Usaha Tegas, a Malaysian investment company, of which Ananda Krishnan is Chairman has substantial shares in both the companies and Ralph Marshall is Director in all three firms.
However, countering these allegations, the court ruling stated that perception or suspicion is not enough for criminal prosecution, the perception or suspicion is required to be investigated and supported by legally admissible evidence, which is wholly lacking in this case.
The case collapsed in court two years after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) had attached properties and assets of the Marans valued at Rs 742 crore. Union Minister allegedly coercing Aircel’s Sivasankaran into selling his stake in the telecom firm to Maxis.
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