File photo of Former Union Telecom Minister Dayanidhi Maran
Dayanidhi Maran, the former telecom minister who is being investigated for corruption, was granted massive relief today by the Supreme Court, which said he cannot be arrested till September 14.
Mr Maran had been asked by the Madras High Court to surrender by Thursday. The Supreme Court has stayed that order and given the CBI two weeks to reply to its notice.
The top court said: "Is there any purpose for his arrest? Political vendetta should not come into it, he is a political person and there may be people who want to fix him, we don't know, less said the better."
Mr Maran's anticipatory bail - six weeks long and granted at the end of June was cancelled by the court on Monday. The CBI had asked for the bail to be revoked because it alleged Mr Maran was not cooperating with the inquiry against him.
The DMK leader has been accused by the CBI of misusing his office to illicitly construct an underground telecom exchange at his Chennai residence. The agency claims that hundreds of cables capable of transmitting large volumes of data were used by Mr Maran to benefit Sun TV, a broadcaster group owned by his brother, media mogul Kalanithi Maran. Last month, the former minister was interrogated extensively in Delhi by the CBI. He has denied any wrongdoing.
In 2007, Mr Maran was replaced as Telecom Minister by his party's A Raja, who is embroiled in another scam that accuses him of accepting kickbacks in exchange for granting out-of-turn mobile network licenses.
Mr Maran has been charged with corruption in another case linked to his term as Telecom Minister - he has been accused of refusing crucial clearances to Aircel, a telecom, till the owner agreed to sell the firm to a Malaysia-based entrepreneur who allegedly made a large investment in the Sun group in exchange.