Swamy asks Apex court to cancel Aircel licence

In his interim application filed before the Bench of Justice GS Singhvi and KS Radhakrishnan, the petitioner pointed out that the Malaysian company Maxis did not reveal to Indian authorities about the 35 per cent share holding of Saudi Telecom Company in them.

“It is submitted further that in view of the failures of Aircel and Maxis to disclose to the Indian authorities, the participation of Saudi Telecom Company in the equity of Maxis, the failure of the FIPB to call for the necessary security clearance based on the aforesaid Joint Intelligence Committee Report from the RAW and the IB, compounded by the decision of the Malaysian Authorities to truncate their support to the CBI in its investigation despite a Letter of Rogatory (LoR) issued by an Indian court - all the above emphasise the need to cancel the FIPB clearance to Aircel Maxis deal in the public interest,” said Swamy in the petition.

In the application for FIPB clearance neither Maxis nor Aircel, disclosed to Indian authorities about the 35 per cent ownership of Saudi Telecom in Maxis to avoid the mandatory security clearance of Intelligence Bureau and RAW, said Swamy. The CBI has invited Supreme Court’s criticism on several occasions for not filing chargesheet in the Aircel-Maxis case. The FIR in the case was filed almost two years ago.

In its FIR, CBI named Maxis owners T Ananda Krishnan (TAK) and Ralph Marshall as accused along with former Telecom Minister Dayanidhi Maran. Recently, the Malaysian authorities rejected CBI’s request for access to TAK and Marshall.