Sun TV falls on report Marans to face graft charges

Sun TV shares slumped on Friday after a newspaper reported CBI investigators are poised to file charges against the company's executive chairman Kalanithi Maran, and his brother, former telecoms minister Dayanidhi Maran, over allegations of kickbacks.

The agency was looking to charge the Marans over allegations they received Rs 549 crore in kickbacks when Malaysian telecoms firm Maxis bought a majority stake in Aircel in 2006, the report said, citing unnamed sources at the Central Bureau of Investigation.

The CBI's investigation will reportedly show Dayanidhi Maran, in his former role as telecoms minister, favoured Maxis in return for a kickback, the paper said, adding that the CBI had presented a status report on the case to a parliamentary panel.

 

Sun TV shares fell as much as 22 percent on the report, before partly recovering to be down 11.5 percent.

The CBI in October last year started formally investigating the Maran brothers and a Malaysian tycoon Ananda Krishnan, owner of Maxis, over their roles in a sprawling telecoms scandal.

A CBI source told Reuters on Friday that the agency earlier this month questioned Dayanidhi Maran. The source declined to be named as the probe was continuing.

Sun TV officials did not answer several phone calls seeking comment.

The CBI declined to comment.

Dayanidhi declined to comment on the CBI report when contacted by the Times of India, according to the report.

"Only when a report is presented to Parliament can I comment on it," Dayanidhi was quoted as saying.

The report also sparked a fall in the shares of airline Spicejet , which were last down 6.9 percent, in which Sun TV's Kalanithi Maran and related promoter groups own a 43.6 percent stake.