The High Court judge said that the parameters laid down by the Supreme Court were grossly violated by the CBI court judge.
The Madras High Court today quashed a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court order discharging former communications minister Dayanidhi Maran and others in the case of alleged setting up of "illegal" telephone exchanges to benefit the Sun TV Network of his brother Kalanithi Maran, holding there was 'heaps' of materials against them.
Allowing the CBI's criminal revision petition against their discharge, Justice G Jayachandran directed the special court to frame charges and conclude the trial within a year from the date of receipt of the copy of the high court order.
"This court is fully satisfied that heaps and heaps of materials are available to frame charges against all the accused. None of the reasons given by the trial court to discharge them is sustained in law," he said in his order.
The discharge order was "perverse and illegal" and bound to be set right for multiple reasons, the judge said adding that parameters laid down by the Supreme Court were grossly violated by the CBI court judge.
related news
Referring to the arguments by counsel for Dayanidhi that he was instrumental in popularising broadband during his tenure, the Judge said it did not mean that he can claim privilege of unlimited usage of that facility for his brother and his business establishment free of cost.
"In a democratic country, an elected representative can never think like that nor the judicial system tolerates and entertains such thought," he said.
The special CBI court here had on March 14 discharged the two Maran brothers and five other accused, holding there was no prima facie case against them.
The case relates to the time when Dayanidhi, a grandnephew of DMK chief M Karunanidhi, was the minister for communications and information technology in the UPA-I government.
The CBI has alleged he misused his official position and got private telephone exchanges installed at his residences here which were used for business transactions of the Sun Network.
Kalanithi Maran, a billionaire businessman, is the chairman and founder of the Sun Group, which owns several media houses.
The CBI has moved the high court contending that the trial court was wrong in discharging the accused though a prima facie case was made out against them.
According to the CBI, over 700 high-end telecommunication lines were installed at their residences in Boat Club and Gopalapuram areas of the city for which bills were not raised, causing the exchequer a loss of Rs 1.78 crore during 2004-06
The other accused are former BSNL general manager K Brahmanathan, former deputy general manager M P Velusamy, Dayanidhi Maran's private secretary Gauthaman and some Sun TV officials.
Justice Jayachandran found fault with the trial court's order on several counts.
He said the lower court judge had totally forgotten the fact that he should only weigh the probability of the case for framing charges.
Making it clear that errors, illegality and perversity could be pointed out in the trial court order, the judge said first of all, the crux of the prosecution case, as recorded by the trial court, was factually wrong.
It was not one phone used by SUN TV with malafide. The case of the prosecution was violation of rules, regulations and guidelines related to MPs and grant of several phone connections to Dayanidhi and Kalanthi's business establishment illegally, Justice Jayachandran said.
If the materials placed before the court were proved, all the accused would be held guilty and punished for the offences mentioned in the final report, he said.
The trial court had extracted a few portions of the statements and documents selectively and had arbitrarily arrived at the conclusion that the violations pointed out were only a matter of a departmental enquiry.
He noted that the service category for a minister does not include ISDN, broadband, lease line connections and video conference facilities.