Pressure is mounting on union textiles minister Dayanidhi Maran to resign in the wake of Tehelka magazine's expose that his family-owned Sun TV Network was a beneficiary of pay-offs by a Malaysian company which benefited from equity sold by Aircel.

The Bharatiya Janata Party reiterated on Thursday that there was enough evidence to nail Maran. Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa on Wednesday had also demanded Maran's resignation.

Speaking to reporters, Jayalalithaa said "Maran should quit and face legal proceedings" even as she demanded the intervention of prime minister Manmohan Singh in the issue.

"I am quite sure the prime minister would know what has to be done and I am sure he would do it. The prime minister should ask for Maran's resignation from the cabinet.

I am sure the PM will do it, if he has not already done it," she said.

While the UPA government, in which DMK is a constituent, has maintained a studied silence over the issue, opposition BJP on Tuesday demanded clarification over the allegations.

"There are new scandals in the UPA government everyday. A new scandal is on the verge of being exposed. The cupboard of corruption of the UPA is overflowing and more skeletons are dying to come out," BJP chief spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad said reacting to a media report in this regard.

Congress has refused to comment on the allegations, but Maran had a lengthy meeting with prime minister Manmohan Singh on Monday night after the meeting of the cabinet committee on political affairs.

Maran has also slapped a legal notice on Tehelka weekly for carrying a story on the issue which he said was "totally false, baseless and defamatory".

PTI reports:

After meeting Jayalalithaa, CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat demanded a "serious investigation" into the allegations against Maran.

The BJP's letter sought to know whether mobile service provider Aircel was given license for large number of new areas after Malaysian company Maxis Communications acquired 74 per cent stake in it when Maran was telecom minister.

The UPA government, in which DMK is a constituent, has maintained a studied silence over the issue while Congress has washed its hands off the matter.

The BJP also wanted to know whether the 2G spectrum was granted during Maran's tenure as telecom minister in 2005 to the company along with licence at the 2001 rate.

"Is it a fact that one of the group companies of the said foreign investor further invested a huge amount in Sun Direct TV, owned by the family members of Maran, when he was telecom minister?" it asked.

The party also wanted to know from the CBI whether it was a fact that the said investment was made through purchase of equity at a very high premium.

Seeking expeditious investigation into the issues concerned with Maran's role as telecom minister, Nadda said, "These questions are in public domain relating to gross abuse of authority, impropriety and also corruption. Maran is evading all replies."

Nadda alleged that "scandal after scandal" was becoming an integral part of the Manmohan Singh government.

"Since we raised this issue yesterday, Maran has gone underground, the prime minister is keeping to himself while Sonia Gandhi is mum," he said.

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DMK flays Jaya for demanding Maran's resignation

The DMK on Thursday came out in support of Textiles Minister Dayanidhi Maran, embroiled in a controversy over alleged pay-offs in the 2G spectrum allocation and slammed Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa for demanding his resignation.

"Jayalalithaa won't quit as chief minister to face a court case, but should Maran do the same? People will understand this," the DMK said in a statement.

In a joint statement, party spokespersons Pon Muthuramalingam and K S Radhakrishnan sought to remind Jayalalithaa that she herself was facing a disproportionate assets case in a Bangalore court.

On Jayalalithaa's demand for Maran's resignation, they said it would not be proper on her part to make such statements without considering that she herself was facing corruption charges.

On Wednesday, Jayalalithaa had demanded Maran's resignation following reports that his family-owned Sun TV Network was a beneficiary of pay-offs by a Malaysian company which benefited from equity sold by Aircel and had demanded that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh seek Maran's resignation.

NGO drags Maran to SC

Favouring a telecom company in 2G

An NGO today moved the supreme court accusing DMK leader and union minister Dyanidhi Maran of favouring a telecom company in allocation of 2G spectrum during his tenure as telecom minister in the UPA-1 government.

The NGO, Centre for Public Interest Litigation (CPIL), sought permission of the court to place before it some documents showing the alleged role of Maran in favouring maxis group of Malaysia which had bought Chennai-based telecom company, Aircel, owned by Siva Group, when he was telecom minister from 2004 to 2007.

The CPIL alleged Maran, who is union textile minister, had during his tenure as telecom minister granted 14 licences to Aircel which invested Rs 599.01 crore in his family-owned business.

Later, he allegedly delayed the award of UAS lincenses to Aircel which had been applying with the DoT since 2004 by raising irrelevant issues from time to time ignoring the request of its owner C Sivasankaran to resolve them, following which he sold the company to maxist group owned by Malaysian business tycoon T Ananda Krishnan.

The NGO claimed that after Aircel was taken over by the maxist, Maran's family-owned business, Sun TV, received substantial investment from Maxist Group (Aircel) by taking 20 percent equity in Sun Direct.

"Feeling harassed, Sivasankaran was forced into selling Aircel. In March 2006, Maxis bought 74 per cent stake in Aircel. The company got the FIPB approval in May 2006. As on March 3, 2006, a total of 14 applications from Aircel were pending in the DoT for award of licenses," the application said.