In a major decision, a CBI Court in Delhi acquitted DMK leader and former Union Telecom Minister Dayanidhi Maran from the illegal BSNL exchange scam, the trial of which had been going on for the past many years. 7 persons including Dayanidhi have been acquitted in the case as the verdict said there were not enough ‘grounds’ for a foolproof case.

Maran was accused during 2004-07 of using his Gopalapuram and Adyar Boatclub residences in Chennai, during his tenure as Union Telecommunications Minister when the Congress-led UPA regime (of which DMK was an ally), to run an ‘illegal BSNL exchange’ connecting both the residences with HT underground cables with the help of Sun TV staff members from his younger brother Kalanidhi Maran’s office.

He was charge-sheeted for causing Rs.1.8 crores to the exchequer after the scam was exposed by journalist Gurumoorthy. Supreme Court ordered CBI to look into the case whose trial commenced in 2011; the CBI filed cases in July, 2013 against Dayanidhi, Kalanidhi, BSNL-Chennai’s GM Brahmanathan, ex-DGM Veluchamy, Dayanishi’s secretary Gauthaman, Sun TV’s chief technical officer Kannan and electrician Ravi.

Delivering the verdict in the 7-year long case, Justice Natarajan acquitted Dayanidhi, Kalanidhi and five others from the case stating that the CBI had failed to ‘substantiate’ its claim and added that there was ‘no ground’ for processing the case further, thus giving a huge reprieve to the high-flying Maran Brothers in particular and to the DMK in general.