Marans want money-laundering case shifted; ED opposes their bail
The Enforcement Directorate on Monday opposed the bail pleas of former Telecom Minister Dayanidhi Maran, his brother Kalanidhi Maran and the latter’s wife, Kaveri, in a money laundering case connected with the Aircel-Maxis deal.
The accused also moved applications before the designated court hearing 2G spectrum allocation scam cases challenging its jurisdiction to hear the money laundering case, arguing that the court was designated only to hear the 2G cases.
Special Judge O.P. Saini has been hearing both cases.
Opposing their bail applications, the agency said the “possibility of hampering the investigation and tampering with the evidence by the applicants may not be ruled out…’’
“The bail applications deserves to be rejected and the question of imposition of conditions does not even arise,’’ the ED said.
“Grounds have no relevance for grant of bail under Section 45 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act,’’ the agency said.
The court later posted the matter on August 27.
The court had summoned them and another accused in the case in February after taking cognisance of a complaint by the ED in January.
The Judge had said that he was satisfied on perusal of the material on record that there was enough material to proceed against the accused.
The complaint is a spin-off of the corruption case lodged by the CBI in the Aircel-Maxis deal. The complaint alleged that Rs. 742.85 crore was paid for Mr. Dayanidhi Maran by two Mauritius-based companies through Sun Direct TV Pvt. Ltd (SDTPL) and South Asia FM Ltd (SAFL).
The two companies are owned and controlled by Mr. Kalanidhi Maran, and the money was utilised by these companies for their business, the complaint alleged.
K. Shanmugam, managing director of SAFL, SDTPL and SAFL, has also been named as accused in the complaint. He has also moved for bail.
The CBI on Monday moved a special court here urging it to issue arrest warrants against T.A. Ananda Krishnan, owner of Malaysian company Maxis, and Augustus Ralph Marshall, a senior executive of the company, in the Aircel-Maxis deal case. Former Telecom Minister Dayanidhi Maran and his brother Kalanithi Maran are the accused.
The agency said that the summons issued to the two accused could not be served.
“It is humbly prayed that warrants of arrest may be issued in respect of the accused so that the coercive method may be used to bring them before this court to face trial,” the CBI said. The court listed the case for August 27.
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