Illegal telephone exchange case: Madras High Court allows Dayanidhi Maran’s plea to summon Union Telecom Secretary as court witness

Madras High Court permits Dayanidhi Maran to summon Union Telecom Secretary as witness in illegal telephone exchange case.

The Madras High Court on Wednesday (March 25, 2026) allowed a plea by Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) Member of Parliament (MP) Dayanidhi Maran to summon the Union Telecommunication Secretary to depose as a court witness before the trial court in Chennai in the illegal telephone exchange case booked for alleged offences committed during his stint as the Union Minister between 2004 and 2007.

Justice A.D. Jagadish Chandira wrote: “In the instant case, where the allegations involve the provision and utilisation of telecommunication infrastructure, the interpretation of administrative rules and the functioning of public sector entities during the relevant period; the evidence of individuals who were directly connected with the relevant administrative processes, assumes significance.”

He said, the testimony of those individuals may shed light on the factual and procedural aspects underlying the allegations and may assist the special court for MP/MLA cases in Chennai to appreciate the evidence, already on record, in its proper perspective. Therefore, it was essential to summon those inviduals and examine them as court witnesses in order to discern the truth, he added.

“In matters relating to departmental facilities and administrative privileges, the scope and nature of entitlement may vary depending upon the position held and the functional requirements of the office. In such circumstances, the person best placed to clarify the administrative framework governing such entitlement would be the Secretary (Telecom), who functions as the senior-most executive authority,” the judge said.

The case against Mr. Maran and many other co-accused had been booked by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). According to the prosecution, he had dishonestly procured large number of telecom facilities at his Boat Club residence as well as home office in Chennai in connivance with senior officials of BSNL and permitted those facilities to be used for the business purposes of Sun TV Network Limited.

Alleging that the CBI had not examined many individuals as prosecution witnesses thereby depriving them of a chance to cross examine those witnesses, Mr. Maran and Sun TV Network’s Chief Technical Officer S. Kannan had approached the High Court with a plea to permit the summoning of those individuals as court witnesses. Mr. Maran had also insisted upon production of certain documents vital to the case.