Indian court issues arrest warrant for Malaysia’s second richest man Krishnan
Ananda Krishnan, of Astro - Maxis, at the annual Allen & Co. Media summit in Sun Valley, Idaho, Wednesday, July 7, 2010. Pic: AP
25th September 2016
A COURT in New Delhi, India issued an arrest warrant for Malaysian billionaire T. Ananda Krishnan following an investigation into an alleged telecommunications licensing corruption case.
According to Bloomberg, India’s Central Bureau of Investigation has also obtained warrants for arrest for Ralph Marshall, deputy chairman at Krishnan-controlled Astro All Asia Networks Plc. Krishnan currently controls one of Malaysia’s largest telecommunications companies, Maxis Group, and is the second richest man in the country.
The bureau, according to the business news agency, sought the warrants as part of the investigation into claims of impropriety against India’s former telecommunications minister Dayanidhi Maran who allegedly favored an operator for a phone license.
In 2011, the bureau told the Supreme Court that Maran was being investigated for allegedly delaying the granting of a license to Aircel Cellular Ltd. The former minister had also allegedly pressured the company’s founder Chinnakannan Sivasankaran to sell his controlling stake to Maxis.
Maran resigned as textiles minister in 2011 and was telecommunications minister under Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s cabinet between 2004 and 2007.
Bloomberg also pointed out that India has a history for issuing “unrealistic” arrest warrants citing the 2014 Suprme Court order against Samsung Electronics Co Chairman Lee Kun-Hee to appear before judges in a dispute over a US$1.4 million payment. The case is still pending, the agency reported.
According to The Hindu, the Special 2G court on Saturday ordered that the trial of Dayanidhi and his brother Kalanithi Maran, who is also implicated in the case, be held separately from that of two Malaysian nationals also accused in a corruption case arising out of the Aircel-Maxis deal.
The open warrants against Krishnan and Marshall was issued by Special judge O.P. Saini.
“It is ordered that the trial of the appearing accused, that is, Dayanidhi Maran, Kalanidhi Maran, Messrs Sun Direct TV Pvt. Ltd. and and Messrs South Asia Entertainment Holdings Ltd. be segregated from the trial of accused Ralph Marshall, T. Ananda Krishnan, Astro All Asia Networks Plc. and Maxis Communications Berhad,” Saini was quoted as saying.
“It is further ordered that an open and perpetual warrant of arrest be issued against Ralph Marshall and T. Ananda Krishnan, as prayed by the prosecution,” he said.
In 2013, India’s Parliament approved a contentious anti-graft bill that empowers an independent ombudsman to investigate and prosecute cases of corruption by politicians and bureaucrats.
The “Lokpal,” or watchdog, bill was passed by the lower house of Parliament after the government agreed to several amendments suggested by opposition lawmakers.
The anti-corruption bill was spurred by social activist Anna Hazare, who has been on a hunger strike for the last nine days. He has said he will end his fast once both houses of Parliament adopt the bill.
The anti-corruption bill was spurred by social activist Anna Hazare, who has been on a hunger strike for the last nine days. He has said he will end his fast once both houses of Parliament adopt the bill.
