Sterling Infotech Group and Hutchison Essar Group have terminated the agreement, which contemplated acquisition of Sterling's Aircel and Aircel Cellular by Aircel Digilink India, a part of the Hutch Group.
P Chidambaram's son Karti was arrested on February 28 at the Chennai airport on his return from the United Kingdom, for his alleged role in facilitating Foreign Investment Promotion Board clearance for INX Media Ltd. and its directors, Peter and Indrani Mukerjea.
Former Telecom Minister Dayanidhi Maran, his brother Kalanithi Maran and four others were on Friday chargesheeted by the Enforcement Directorate in the Special 2G court.
Cellular service provider Aircel will embark on an over $400-million pan-India network expansion to double its subscriber base of 5 million over 18 to 24 months.
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The agency had "almost finished" its probe into the matter, which involved Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam leader and former telecom minister Dayanidhi Maran, an official said.
Former Telecom Minister Dayanidhi Maran, his brother Kalanidhi Maran and six others, including four companies, were on Friday chargesheeted by the CBI in a special court in the Aircel-Maxis deal case arising out of the investigation in the 2G spectrum allocation scam.
He was chargesheeted for the offences punishable under section 120-B
They were chargesheeted for alleged offences punishable under section 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of IPC and under relevant provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act.
The sources said the matter should have been referred to the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs as foreign investments above Rs 600 crore (Rs 6 billion) can only be cleared by Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs headed by the Prime Minister.
The telecom industry is moving towards a five-plus one model.
The Central Bureau of Investigation on Wednesday sought clarifications from Standard Chartered Bank officials in connection with its probe into former Aircel chief C Sivasankaran's allegations that the then Telecom Minister Dayanidhi Maran forced him to sell his company to Malaysia-based Maxis group in 2006.
The CBI had registered a case against former telecom minister Dayanidhi Maran, his brother MP Kalanithi Maran, Malaysian business tycoon and Maxis owner T Ananda Krishnan, and Maxis Director Ralph Marshall in October 2011.
The Central Bureau of Investigation told the Supreme Court that charge sheet in the controversial Aircel-Maxis deal involving former telecom minister Dayanidhi Maran will be filed shortly as the Attorney General disagreed with the views of its Director Ranjit Sinha to drop the prosecution.
The Supreme Court on Thursday asked the CBI to go ahead with its probe in the Aircel-Maxis deal without waiting for necessary sanction against an official "holding high position" in connection with irregularities in the case arising out of 2G scam.
Earlier, SC had given two weeks to prove Chidambaram deliberately granted FIPB clearance in 2006
Chidambaram was competent to give approval of upto Rs 600 crore but he gave the approval which was worth approximately Rs 3,500 crore
The agency, sources said, has issued the notices under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and they have summoned the accused to examine them and record their statements.
Special CBI Judge O P Saini took cognisance of the CBI's charge sheet filed against eight accused including four companies and summoned them on March 2, 2015.
The three companies for sale are Reliance Communications, Reliance Telecom and Reliance Infratel.
Assets include Kalanithi Maran's shares worth Rs 139 cr in Sun Direct.
In a setback to Maran brothers, the Madras high court on Wednesday dismissed petitions filed by Kalanithi Maran owned Sun TV and Kal Communications challenging the attachment of their properties by Enforcement Directorate in connection with money laundering probe in Aircel-Maxis deal.
The Ministry had disallowed the group from taking part in auction.
Apart from them, Chidambaram's wife -- Nalini -- has been chargesheeted by the CBI in the Saradha chit-fund scam for allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 1.4 crore.
The CBI has completed its probe against former telecom minister Dayanidhi Maran and others in 2G scam and will approach the Centre for taking sanction for prosecution, the agency told the Supreme Court.
The Congress leader is also being probed by ED in two separate money-laundering cases of Aircel-Maxis and INX Media.
While smart boys like the Ruias of Essar, Ajay Piramal, Max India promoter Analjit Singh laughed all the way to the bank, the Tatas, Anil Ambani, Malaysian tycoon T Ananda Krishna of Maxis (which invested in Aircel), Sistema, and Norway's Telenor burnt their fingers, notes Surajeet Das Gupta.
India's No. 1 ranked player Saketh Myneni and Norway's tennis sensation Casper Ruud have been offered the last two wild cards for the 22nd edition of the Aircel Chennai Open.
Chidambaram has not been named as an accused in the FIR and the CBI is yet to file a chargesheet in the matter.
UV Asset Reconstruction Company Ltd has made the highest bid of Rs 16,000 crore to buy Anil Ambani group's Reliance Communications and Reliance Telecom, which are in the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT). Last year it was the highest bidder for taking over Aircel's assets for an upfront payment of Rs 150 crore. Surajeet Das Gupta and Dev Chatterjee dig deeper to find out more about this little known company.
Apart from INX Media and Aircel-Maxis, the four other firms which are under the scanner are Diageo Scotland, Essar Steel, Katara Holdings and Elforge Ltd. These firms were granted FIPB approval when Chidambaram was the FM, reports Shrimi Choudhary.
The federal agency has filed its case under the criminal sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) taking cognisance of a recent first information report (FIR) registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the same case, they said.
Chidambaram and his son Karti Chidambaram were named in the chargesheet filed by the CBI in the case on July 19.
Former Telecom Minister Dayanidhi Maran had "pressurised" and "forced" Chennai-based telecom promoter C Sivasankaran to sell his stakes in Aircel and two subsidiary firms to Malaysian firm Maxis Group in 2006, the CBI on Thursday told a special court.
CBI had started preliminary inquiry into the deal on January 4, 2011 and nine months later on October 9 had registered the FIR.
The court had also directed Chidambaram to cooperate with the investigation in both the cases as and when required.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing CBI and ED, contended that the Congress leader was evasive during interrogation and was giving long answers.
In the wake of the 2G acquittals, here are a few high-profile cases in which question marks were raised by various courts over the CBI's probe.
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