New Delhi – Malaysian billionaire Ananda Krishnan’s long drawn court battle in India over his investments in Aircel, came to an abrupt end today when the Special Court here constituted by the Supreme Court dropped the charges against all the accused persons in the Maxis-Aircel case.
This comes as big relief to Malaysia’s second richest man, as the Indian authorities went to the extent of publishing a court order in a Malaysian daily demanding that Ananda Krishnan, his former business associate, Astro and Maxis companies appear in court to answer the charges levelled against them.
The advert appeared in Sun newspaper dated 23rd January 2017.
The advert that appeared in Sun Daily…
The special court also dropped charges against Kalanidhi Maran and Dayanidhi Maran who were jointly charged by Enforcement Directorate (ED) and CBI (Central Bureau of Investigations) of India.
The Delhi Special Court’s decision is also seen as an embarrassment for ED and CBI as the Maran brothers always maintained that the charges against them were politically motivated. Dayanidhi Maran was a former Minister under the Congress government while his elder brother Kalanidhi Maran controls Sun TV group which is closely associated with the DMK party in Tamil Nadu.
The consequences of the decision made by the Special Court are not immediately known and there was no announcement whether an appeal would be lodged against the decision.
-R.Mutharasan
