Former Telecom Minister and DMK leader Dayanidhi Maran called the CBI’s move to file a chargesheet against him and his brother Kalanidhi Maran a "politically motivated” move, and said that he will fight it legally. 

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Friday had filed a chargesheet against former Telecom Minister and DMK leader Dayanidhi Maran, and his brother Kalanidhi Maran – Chairman and Managing Director of Sun Group – in the illegal telephone exchange case. 

It was also filed chargesheet against retired general managers of BSNL, K Brahmhanathan, M P Veluswami, the then additional personal secretary to Maran, two former officials of Sun TV.

In a statement, Dayanidhi Maran said, “This is a politically motivated case. I will face it in court and prove that I am not guilty.”

He added that CBI had earlier said that he had caused a loss of Rs 484 crore to the government. “Initially they had said I had caused loss of Rs. 484 crore to the government. Then they revised it to Rs. 100 crore. Today they are accusing that the loss is Rs. 1.78 crore, based on the calculation that these were the charges for the telecom connections in my homes in New Delhi and Madras, in the period 2004-07. But the same telecom facilities were given to ministers before and after me,” he stated, reported by The Times of India.

The CBI alleged that Dayanidhi Maran abused his official position to install 764 telephone lines at his residences in Chennai. These lines were allegedly used commercially by Sun TV, operated by his brother. The chargesheet estimates a loss of Rs 1.78 crore to BSNL, Chennai and MTNL, Delhi as no bills were generated for any of the 764 telephone connections provided to Dayanidhi Maran.

According to the CBI, between June 2004 and December 2006, 364 telephone numbers were installed at Maran’s Gopalapuram residence in Chennai, reported The Hindu. In addition, 353 telephone lines were installed between December 2006 and September 2007 at his Boat Club residence.