Complete text of Union Minister of Textiles Dayanidhi Maran denying charges against him:
PRESS STATEMENT BY THIRU DAYANIDHI MARAN, UNION MINISTER OF TEXTILES
1. I am quite surprised that some newspapers and TV Channels have of late been carrying some news item that during my tenure as Minister of Communications & IT during 2004-07; I was partial to a particular company in granting UASL licence. It is totally untrue and malicious.
2. As the news items are far from truth, I have already sent defamation notices to the Newspapers /TV Channels concerned.
3. As the allegations are getting focused sharply now and some political parties are also joining them, I would fail in my duty if I do not place the facts in their right perspective in public domain.
4. I vouch that during my tenure as Minister of Communications & IT, I was totally impartial in taking decisions. I have not favoured any company over others. Neither any applicant company was allowed to jump the queue in grant of UASL Licences nor there any loss to the exchequer. Only companies fulfilling all the required conditions were given LOIs in their own turn. Even CAG has not mentioned any loss to the exchequer on account of issue of licenses in my tenure.
5. The practice followed then for grant of UASL licence to any applicant was that the applicant company had to satisfy all prescribed conditions in respect of networth, funding pattern, business plan, debt-equity ratio etc. The applicant company should also not have a history of default in payment/violation of licence conditions in any service area.
6. In so far as the issue of grant of UASL licence to Dishnet Wireless Limited (Aircel) is concerned, as far as I could recall, even before I joined as Minister of Communications & IT on 27th May 2004, there were serious queries relating to funding potential of the company, its networth and debt-equity ratio raised by the Department of Telecommunications and the application was under examination even before I became Minister.
7. The grant of UASL licenses applied for by the company has been approved when the file was submitted by the Department after thorough examination of all issues including legal aspects and the company became fully eligible for allotment.
8. No Telecom company directly or indirectly had ever invested in any of the companies owned by my brother during my tenure as Telecom Minister.
9. I was not even a Minister, when M/s Astro invested in Sun Direct in December 2007 as I had resigned in 13th May, 2007. Needless to say, I own no shares or any fiduciary interest in any of these companies.
Dayanadhi Maran
01st June, 2011
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