The CBI today moved a designated court for issuance of warrants of arrest against two Malaysian businessmen in connection with its probe in the Aircel-Maxis deal.
The premier probe agency moved the designated court of O P Saini with an application for issuing arrest warrants against Augustus Ralph Marshall and T Ananda Krishnan as the duo failed to appear before the agency despite being summoned four times by the court.
The summonses to the duo, who had been charge-sheeted by the CBI in August 2014, were sent to the Malaysian Attorney General through diplomatic channel, the CBI said, adding there was no word from that country.
The court has fixed August 27 as the next date of hearing on whether to accept the CBI request for issuance of arrest warrants.
The charge sheet in the Aircel-Maxis deal claimed that former Telecom Minister Dayanidhi Maran had received a bribe of Rs 742 crore for coercing entrepreneur C Sivasankaran to sell his telecom company Aircel to Malaysia-based Maxis.
The agency also named Maran's brother Kalanithi, T Ananda Krishnan, promoter of Maxis based in Malaysia, Augustus Ralph Marshall who headed Maxis's UK-based subsidiary Astro All Asia Network and companies Sun Direct TV Pvt Limited, Astro All Asia Network, Maxis Communications and South Asia Entertainment, Mauritius.
CBI had claimed that although Malaysia had not responded to Letters Rogatory sent by it, the agency was able to piece together the money trail from the responses of judicial requests sent to Mauritius, the United Kingdom and the Isle of Man.
CBI had charge-sheeted them for the alleged offences under section 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of IPC and relevant provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act.
