{
 "no": 79,
 "id": "case-79",
 "sk": 20110707,
 "year": 2011,
 "date": "Resigned Jul 2011; discharged 2017",
 "cat": "Crony capital (alleged)",
 "sev": "amber",
 "title": "Aircel-Maxis. A telecom minister, a sale, and a discharge",
 "stamp": "Resigned. Court discharged him.",
 "human": {
  "v": "A telecom promoter who says he was pressed into selling his company",
  "est": false
 },
 "cost": {
  "v": "The sale of a telecom operator alleged to have been coerced by the minister holding the licensing power",
  "est": true
 },
 "what": "The CBI alleged that Dayanidhi Maran, as Telecom Minister, delayed licences to pressure the promoter of Aircel into selling to Malaysia's Maxis, and that his family's media business received investment from a Maxis-linked entity in return. He resigned as Textiles Minister in July 2011.",
 "dodge": "In February 2017 a special court discharged the Maran brothers and the other accused, holding the agency had produced no evidence worth framing charges on. Six years of investigation ended without a trial. Neither the allegation nor the minister's innocence was ever tested before a court on the merits.",
 "ministers": [
  {
   "n": "Dayanidhi Maran",
   "r": "Telecom Minister at the time; resigned as Textiles Minister Jul 2011; discharged 2017"
  }
 ],
 "pos": "Maran said the allegations were fabricated, that the licensing decisions followed policy, and that his discharge vindicated him entirely.",
 "alleg": "Coercion of the seller is <em>an allegation the court found unsupported by evidence at the charge stage</em>. It is recorded here with that outcome attached.",
 "alt": "An investigation that either produces chargeable evidence within a defined period or closes publicly and says so.",
 "resignations": [
  {
   "n": "Dayanidhi Maran",
   "office": "Union Textiles Minister",
   "when": "Jul 2011",
   "year": 2011,
   "level": "union",
   "party": "DMK"
  }
 ],
 "sources": [
  {
   "label": "Business Standard: court discharges Maran in Aircel-Maxis",
   "url": "https://www.business-standard.com/article/current-affairs/2g-court-discharges-dayanidhi-maran-and-others-accused-in-aircel-maxis-case-117020200626_1.html",
   "tier": 2
  },
  {
   "label": "DNA: what the Aircel-Maxis deal was about",
   "url": "https://www.dnaindia.com/india/report-what-is-the-aircel-maxis-deal-and-why-is-dayanidhi-maran-in-trouble-2004611",
   "tier": 2
  }
 ],
 "caseUrl": "https://whoisresponsible.xyz/case/case-79/"
}