This follows the CBI’s failed attempt to serve summonses on the Malaysian individuals and companies to attend the hearing in India.
Malaysian Attorney-General Mohamed Apandi Ali is reported to have told India’s prosecutors that he was not satisfied that there were sufficient conditions for issuing summonses.
The CBI wants arrest warrants issued against Malaysian business tycoon Ananda Krishnan, his aide Augustus Ralph Marshall and four companies – Maxis Communication Berhad, Astro All Asia Networks Ltd, Sun Direct TV Pvt Ltd, and South Asia Entertainment Holding Ltd and
According to a BloombergQuint report, the CBI plans to ask Interpol for a ‘red corner notice’ issued against the Malaysian-based companies and individuals after the special court gives an order on arrest warrants.
The court was told on Wednesday that several attempts had been made to serve summonses on the individuals and companies in Malaysia and that none of the accused had appeared since 2014.
Senior Public Prosecutor Anand Grover told the court that when they went through the Malaysian authorities, the Malaysian Attorney-General had asked “exhaustive questions” about the manner in which India’s courts’ decided on criminal cases and that he had sought justification on every point in the chargesheet filed by the CBI.
BloombergQuint quoted Grover as saying: “The Malaysian Attorney-General has made up his mind. He has indicated that CBI’s request fails to satisfy the conditions for issuing summonses. He has come to the view that there is no due criminality. How do we now bring them to India to stand trial? The court will have to issue arrest warrants.”
According to the report, the special court ruled last week that it had the jurisdiction to hear the Aircel-Maxis case. Special judge OP Saini dismissed all applications filed by the accused in the case and held that he could hear and treat Aircel-Maxis as a 2G case.
The CBI moved the court in August seeking issuance of arrest warrants.
The Aircel-Maxis case revolves around allegations that the then telecom minister Dayanidhi Maran had pressurised Chennai-based businessman C Sivasankaran to sell his stake in Aircel Ltd to Maxis in 2006. In return, the Malaysian company invested in Kalanithi Maran’s Sun Direct, the direct-to-home TV arm of his Sun TV Network Ltd.
The CBI named the Maran brothers as accused in its August 2014 charge sheet, levelling charges of criminal conspiracy, abuse of official position, and bribery, according to the BloombergQuint report.
Besides the Marans, the CBI named T Ananda Krishnan, owner of the Malaysia-based Maxis Group, Ralph Marshall, senior executive of Maxis, and the four companies as accused.
It is claimed that Sun Direct TV Private Ltd and South Asia FM Ltd, both controlled by Kalanithi Maran, received Rs 742.58 crore as “proceeds of crime” from Mauritius-based firms in the Aircel-Maxis deal.
The Marans and other local accused have filed bail applications in court. Counsels for Dayanidhi and Kalanithi Maran informed the special court that they have challenged the September 17 order that upheld its jurisdiction to hear the Aircel-Maxis case before the Delhi High Court and the Supreme Court, according to BloombergQuint.