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Reacting to the charges of pay-offs in 2G spectrum allocation and his alleged involvement in the Aircel deal, former Telecom Minister Mr Dayanidhi Maran said on Wednesday that these are “totally untrue and malicious.”
In a statement, Mr Maran, who is now the Textiles Minister, said that “I vouch that during my tenure as Minister of Communications and IT, I was totally impartial in taking decisions. I have not favoured any company over others. Neither any applicant company was allowed to jump the queue in grant of UASL licences nor was there any loss to the exchequer.”
On allegations that he favoured Malaysia's Maxis Group (owner of Aircel) in granting UASL licences and that the company in turn made investments in the Maran family owned Sun Group, he said, “I was not even a Minister, when Astro (a Maxis Group company) invested in Sun Direct in December 2007 as I had resigned on May 13, 2007.”
“Needless to say, I own no shares or any fiduciary in any of these companies,” the Minister said.
He said no telecom company “directly or indirectly had ever invested in any of the companies owned by my brother during my tenure as Telecom Minister.”
Opposition parties such as the BJP and AIADMK have sought Mr Maran's resignation following media reports alleging his role in the matter.
However, Mr Maran said “Even the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) has not mentioned any loss to the exchequer on account of issue of licenses in my tenure.”
On granting of UASL licence to Dishnet Wireless Ltd (Aircel), Mr Maran said before he took charge as the Telecom Minister there were “serious queries relating to funding potential of the company, its net worth and debt-equity ratio raised by the Department of Telecommunications and the application was under examination even before I became Minister.”
He said the grant of UASL licence applied for Aircel was approved only when the “file was submitted by the Department after thorough examination of all issues including legal aspects and the company became fully eligible for allotment.”
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