Second Indian minister quits over telecom corruption case

Maran is the second member of the Tamil Nadu-based DMK party to resign

India's Textile Minister Dayanidhi Maran has resigned as of 6th July following news that he is being investigated in connection with the country's biggest corruption scandal.

Maran is the second cabinet minister to resign from Prime Minister Monmohan Singh's government over the award of telephone licences.

Maran was telecommunications minister from 2004 until 2007, when he was replaced by Andimuthu Raja. Raja is already on trial, facing charges for having entered into a conspiracy to award phone permits to ineligible companies. He denies any wrongdoing.

India has been hit by a series of scandals in recent months, which have triggered nationwide protests, and severely damaged Singh's reputation.

Maran and Raja belong to the DMK party, which is a key ally of Singh's governing Congress Party.

It is alleged that Maran coerced the founder of the mobile phone firm Aircel to sell his stake to Malaysia's Maxis Group, a firm favoured by the minister. Maxis Group then invested in a media group based in southern India with links to Maran.

An NGO, the Centre for Public Interest Litigation alleged that Maran granted 14 licenses to Aircel, which invested large sums of money in his family business, Sun TV. He later allegedly delayed licenses to Aircel and then pressured owner C Sivasankaran to sell the company to Maxis Group.

The allegations against Maran form just a small part of the investigation over the sale of telephone permit sales, which has become known as the 2G scandal.

It is alleged that in 2008 phone permits were sold at what India's chief auditor called 'unbelievably low' prices, denying the government billions of dollars in revenues. Several government officials and industry executives have been arrested in connection with the case.

India's corruption scandals have in recent months included a parliamentary cash-for-votes case, the resignation of the head of the country's anti corruption watchdog after he himself was accused of wrongdoing, and an investigation into financial irregularities at last year's Commonwealth Games, according to the BBC.

Sources: BBC News, Bloomberg, Indian Express

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