Author: PTI
Publication: The Times of India
Date: May 31, 2011
URL: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Clarify-whether-Sun-TV-benefited-by-pay-offs-BJP-to-Maran/articleshow/8666395.cms
Government on Tuesday faced fresh attack from
the opposition on corruption when the BJP asked textiles minister Dayanidhi
Maran to answer charges that his family-owned Sun TV Network was a beneficiary
of pay-offs by a Malaysian company which benefited from equity sold by Aircel.
"There are new scandals in the UPA government
everyday. A new scandal is on the verge of being exposed. The cupboard of
corruption of the UPA is overflowing and more skeletons are dying to come
out," BJP chief spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad said reacting to a media
report in this regard.
However, Congress washed its hands off the
controversy surrounding Maran, the former telecom minister.
"If a question has been asked from the
textiles minister Dayanidhi Maran, obviously he will be the best person to
answer it," party spokesman Manish Tewari told reporters in reply to
a volley of questions on the issue.
Incidently, Maran had a lengthy meeting with
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday night after the meeting of the Cabinet
Committee on Political Affairs.
At the same time, Tewari indicated that irregularities,
if any, during Maran's tenure could be looked into by the JPC which is looking
into the 2G spectrum allocation scam. Tewari is also a member of the JPC.
Prasad alleged that during Maran's tenure
as telecom minister, there were some financial anomalies which benefited companies
owned by his family.
"We know Maran's family owns Sun TV
network which also has direct-to-home (DTH) service. During his tenure as
telecom minister, the FDI norm was changed and the telecom sector FDI norm
was increased to 74 per cent. Aircel, a telecom company which only had a license
for Tamil Nadu, later got license for 14 new areas," Prasad said.
Prasad maintained that instead of threatening
the BJP, Maran should answer these queries with proper documentary proof.
He insisted that the consequences of the
change in FDI are well-known.
"Earlier, the Prime Minister had said
on October 26, 2009, that A Raja is innocent when the CBI had started the
inquiry (into 2G spectrum allocation. We would request Manmohan Singh to learn
from his past mistakes. Some questions are being raised. Please reply to them,"
Prasad said.
Prasad said if Maran had "misused his
dominant position" as a minister, his actions would come under the Prevention
of Corruption Act.
He wondered why routing of slush money was
increasingly being done by companies owned by DMK leaders, be it Kalaignar
TV (in which Kanimozhi has a 20 per cent stake) or Sun Network.
Tewari, however, evaded a direct reply when
asked when A Raja resigned after similar allegations why should Maran continue
saying "I have said what I have to say".
Asked about the BJP demands on the Maran
issue, Tewari said that the JPC which has been formed after the winter session
of Parliament was washed out over the opposition demand, was having stakeholders
from all political parties.
"I don't think the agenda of the JPC
should be set through a press conference" was the brief refrain of Tewari
when asked whether JPC should call Maran before it.
Meanwhile, Maran slapped a legal notice on
Tehelka magazine over a report in this regard.
