Former Aircel chief C. Sivasankaran on Monday was questioned by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) officials who sought clarifications from him regarding the agency’s ongoing probe into 2G spectrum allocation scam.
Though the CBI was tight-lipped about the questioning of Mr. Sivasankaran, agency’s spokesperson Dharini Mishra said there were "indications" of a meeting between CBI officials and the former Aircel chief.
Sources in the CBI said that Mr. Sivasankaran was asked about series of events and certain clarifications about alleged irregularities and violations in allocation of spectrum to Aircel, a telecom firm set up by him which was later acquired by the Malaysian company Maxis.
Mr. Sivasankaran now heads a U.S.-based conglomerate, Siva Group, with operations in realty, telecom, shipping, energy and agri exports and e-education and software. The sources said that in his statement, recorded at an undisclosed location in the Capital, Mr. Sivasankaran had alleged that he was forced by the then Telecom Minister Dayanidhi Maran to sell his stake to Maxis.
According to Mr. Sivasankaran’s allegations, his applications for licences were rejected in 2006 when Mr. Maran was in-charge of Telecom portfolio. He has alleged that Maxis owner T. Anandakrishnnan shared close ties with Mr. Maran and his brother Kalanidhi Maran, who owns Sun TV.
Mr. Dayanidhi Maran, Textiles Minister in UPA II government, is facing allegation of bending the rules for granting 14 licences to Dishnet Wireless, now Aircel, during his tenure as Telecom Minister.
Well placed CBI sources said that after registering a Preliminary Enquiry (PE) in January, on the directions of the Supreme Court, to go into allegations of wrong doing and violations of the rules and the government’s telecom policy during 2001-2007, the CBI was looking at "all aspects." They said the CBI was also looking into financial transactions of Sun TV and Maxis, if any. "We are also looking under what circumstances and how Maxis group acquired Aircel," the sources said.
The PE was registered against "unknown persons" to detect any alleged anomaly in the "first-come-first-serve" during the spectrum allocation between 2001-07 which would also cover the period when BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) was in power. "The effort is to gather evidence and record statements of relevant persons to explore the possibility if the PE can be converted into a regular, full-fledged First Information Report (FIR)," the sources said.
Arun Shourie, who held the charge of Telecom Ministry during NDA regime between 2003-04, has already been questioned by the CBI on February 25 in detail about the allocation of licenses during that period.