'Explain turnaround on Dayanidhi Maran'

New Delhi, April 11 (IANS) The Supreme Court Wednesday directed NGO Telecom Watchdog to explain its turnaround in stating that Dayanidhi Maran, when he was the communications minister, had not compelled Chennai-based businessman C. Sivasankaran to sell his stake in mobile telephony provider Aircel to Singapore-based Maxis.

An apex court bench headed by Justice G.S.Singhvi passed the order

after senior counsel, K.K. Venugopal appealing for the Central Bureau of Investigation, said that NGO secretary Anil Kumar had in a Feb 5 letter to the CBI director contended that it was Sivasankaran who took advantage of the situation and thus was the real beneficiary.

Anil Kumar had also urged the CBI director to stop further investigations in the matter, Venugopal said.

Taking exception to the manner in which the contents of the letter were carried by e-magazine Telecom Live, and the turnaround by Anil Kumar, the court asked him to file an affidavit within a week stating the reasons and circumstances on going back on his earlier stand on which he had approached the apex court, seeking an investigation against Maran.

The court order came during the hearing on petitions by NGO Centre for Public Interest Litigation (CPIL) and Janata Party president Subramanian Swamy seeking to make the then finance minister, P. Chidambaram, a co-accused along with A. Raja, the telecom minister when 2G spectrum prices were decided.