Maran bothers must face trial in telephone exchange case: Supreme Court
New Delhi, July 30 (IBNS) : Upholding the Madras High Court's directive, the Supreme Court on Monday said former telecom minister Dayanidhi Maran and his brother Kalanithi must face trial in the illegal telephone exchange case.
"The allegation is you have used phones for your brother's TV. You face the trial," media reports quoted the Supreme Court as saying while dismissing Dayanidhi Maran's appeal in the decade-old case.
Last week, the Madras High Court had ordered the framing of charges within 12 weeks against Dayanidhi Maran and his older brother Kalanithi, head of Sun Group.
Earlier, the brothers had been discharged from the case in March by a CBI court on the ground of lack of evidence and the central agency challenged the order in High Court.
The top court on Monday said it would not interfere in that order. "These are matters to be decided in trial," it said.
Dayanidhi Maran is accused of setting up an illegal telephone exchange at his home, at a loss of Rs. 1.78 crore to the government. The exchange was allegedly used to help Sun TV, owned by his brother Kalanithi, conduct business transactions and transfer data.
The CBI alleged that Dayanidhi, in doing so, had misused his office as he was the telecom minister that time.
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