The ED has asked Mr Maran to be present before it on March 20.
The controversial deal is also being probed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). The case filed by the CBI against Mr Maran explains in detail how he allegedly misused his office when he was Telecom Minister to ensure mobile operator Aircel was sold to an entrepreneur who returned the favour with Rs. 549-crore kickback.
The FIR or First Information Report filed by the CBI, explains how. "An illegal gratification of Rs. 549 crore was accepted as quid pro quo through his (Maran's) brother, Kalanithi, in the garb of share premium invested in Sun TV."
Mr Maran was Telecom Minister between 2004 and 2007. In 2006, C Sivasankaran who owned Aircel sold the company to the Maxis group. Within months, the owner of Maxis, T Ananda Krishnan, who is based in Malaysia, made a whopping investment in Sun Networks, owned by the minister's brother.
The money was routed through Astro, a subsidiary of Maxis. Like Mr Ananda Krsihnan, the CEO of Astro, Ralph Marshall, has been named in the FIR.
Mr Sivasankaran says that he sold Aircel after Mr Maran deliberately delayed sanctioning 14 licenses critical to his business. After two years of being kept on hold, Mr Sivasankaran finally gave in to the pressure that the CBI agrees Mr Maran applied. The FIR states that the conspiracy behind the Aircel-Maxis transaction was "hatched in Delhi, Chennai, Mauritius and Malaysia."
The document explains how Mr Maran allegedly engineered the sale to help Maxis - in the CBI's opinion. It states that in October 2005, Mr Marshal met Mr Sivasankaran and told him that Mr Maran had told him he cleared the sale of Aircel to Maxis. A month later, Mr Maran's brother, Kalanithi met Mr Sivasankaran at the Taj Coromandel Hotel in Chennai; immediately after that meeting, Mr Maran allegedly called the Aircel owner and instructed him to sell 100% stake in Aircel to Maxis. Hours after that meeting, Mr Sivasankaran received formal offers for the takeover from Maxis.
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