Illegal telephone exchange case: HC sets aside order discharging Maran brothers

Chennai, July 25: In a major setback for former Union minister, Dayanidhi Maran and his elder brother Kalanidhi Maran, the Madras High Court has rejected the preliminary objection raised by them against the appeal moved by the CBI in the illegal telephone exchange case.

The court remitted the case back to the special court for CBI cases and directed that the trial and complete framing of charges be done in 12 weeks. As a result of this, the Maran brothers will face trial before the special CBI court.

On March 14th, a special judge had said he was discharging all seven accused from the case since there was no prima facie evidence. The CBI however said that between June 2004 and December 2006, Maran, while he was the union minister had misused his office and installed a private telephone exchange at his home in Chennai and used it for business transactions.

A loss of Rs 1.78 crore was caused to the exchequer because of this, the CBI said.