The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed a plea by media baron Kalanithi Maran in connection with the Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited telephone exchange case, PTI reported. Maran, the brother of former Telecom Minister Dayanidhi Maran, had challenged a Madras High Court verdict setting aside a trial court order discharging him in the case.
A bench of Justices Ranjan Gogoi, Navin Sinha and KM Joseph rejected Maran’s plea. The top court had on July 30 dismissed Dayanidhi Maran’s appeal in the case. Subsequently, Kalanithi and Dayanidhi Maran will have to face trial.
Kalanithi Maran is the owner of Sun TV. Dayanidhi Maran was Union minister between 2004 and 2007. He had allegedly installed at least 364 high-end telecommunication facilities at one of his residences. Of those, Sun TV had used 323 facilities between 2004 and 2007 to uplink the channel, the Central Bureau of Investigation claimed.
In March, the trial court said the prosecutors had failed to prove their case against Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam leader Dayanidhi Maran, his brother Kalanithi Maran, and five other accused. Three months later, the CBI moved the High Court challenging the order.
In 2013, the CBI had accused Dayanidhi Maran of abusing his position as a Union minister and causing a loss of Rs 1.78 crore to the public exchequer. The agency filed a chargesheet in the case on December 9, 2016.
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