Maran brothers discharged in telephone exchange case

In a major relief to former Union telecom minister Dayanidhi Maran, his elder brother Kalanidhi Maran and five others, a special CBI court here on Wednesday discharged them from the illegal telephone exchange scam.

The verdict comes as a shot in the arm for Marans, who have already been discharged in the Aircel-Maxis case.

The court cases had considerably reduced the clout of junior Maran in the DMK and with Wednesday’s verdict, he is expected to make a comeback.

When their discharge petitions came up for hearing before XIV additional special court for CBI cases in the morning, special judge S. Natarajan posted the matter to 2.30 pm for pronouncing verdict on their plea.

Soon after the trial commenced in the afternoon, the judge said the petitions moved by former BSNL general manager K. Brahmnathan and former deputy general manager M. P. Velusamy, were allowed.

In a major relief to former Union telecom minister Dayanidhi Maran, his elder brother Kalanidhi Maran and five others, a special CBI court here on Wednesday discharged them from the illegal telephone exchange scam.

The CBI will appeal in Madras high court against the discharge of former telecom minister Dayanidhi Maran and his brother Kalanithi by a special court in alleged “illegal” telephone exchange case, officials said here on Wednesday.

They said the probe agency is shocked at the decision as it believed that it had very strong case on the basis of evidence gathered. The CBI said it will seek legal opinion to file an appeal against the decision.

“I now stand vindicated..I believe in our judicial system, I am so happy that justice has triumphed,” Dayanidhi said reacting to the court’s verdict.