Of Aircel, Ananda and Dr M: A sordid tale of coercion, corruption and thuggery

The average visitor to India does not stay at the Taj. Those who do stay there are not likely to forget the experience in a hurry. You are immediately transported from the dust, dirt and grime that is India’s streets, from the wailing beggars and the unceasing honks of cars, trucks and the ever-present auto-rickshaws, to an enchanted island of quiet and fairy-tale splendor.

In Chennai, it is the Taj Coromandel (named after the ancient, romantic name for India’s south-west coast) that the very well-heeled would retire to; as soon as they can escape the all-pervading, throat-clogging dust of Chennai.

Yet it was in this hotel in November 2005, that an episode of what can only be described as white-collar thuggery would take place. Kalanithi Maran, the brother of India’s then Telecom Minister Dayanidhi Maran would order C Sivashankaran to sell his company, Aircel, to Maxis.

Witnesses

For two years, Dayanidhi Maran had delayed the issue of licences that would allow Mr Sivashankaran to continue to operate his company successfully. Mr Sivashankaran who had been running Aircel since 1994, was forced to sell his company to a company from Malaysia with no presence in India, Maxis. Mr Sivashankaran also had to bear the indignity of having Ralph Marshall, Ananda Krishnan’s factotum, informing him that Maran had cleared the sale.

Once Mr Sivashankaran sold his company, all outstanding licenses were processed with alacrity; there were no more burueaucratic hold-ups. The pay-off to the Marans from Maxis was 550 crores, the approximate equivalent of RM 400 million. This is not what we allege but is the substance of the FIR (First-Information Report) that India’s CBI has filed against the Marans, Maxis, Astro, Ralph Marshall and Ananda Krishnan.

The CBI expects to have witnesses in the form of Mr Sivashankaran, Ms Suneeta Reddy (who was involved in the Aircel purchase as Maxis’s Indian partner), and various others. The noose appears to be tightening around the principal players in this mafia-like coercion and purchase of Aircel. One almost expects to see Tony Soprano in the background, standing with a cigar in his mouth and a satisfied smile.

Suing from Singapore

Mr Sivashankaran is suing Maxis in the Singapore courts; he cannot be blamed if he does not expect to get justice in Malaysia. Ananda Krishnan is a powerful man in Malaysia, a close associate of Mahathir Mohammed, the former dictatorial Prime Minister of Malaysia.

Mahathir remains a power player in Malaysian politics and most recently, was responsible for hounding the hapless Abdullah Baddawi from power. Mahathir’s son, Mokhzani, sits on the Maxis board. Most of Ananda Krishnan’s businesses, tellingly, cannot be operated in Malaysia without a license since they are in the power, gaming and telecommunication sectors. Ananda Krishnan would certainly have to be well-versed in dealing with and motivating politicians to do his bidding.

A crime in Malaysia to bribe foreign officials

If the complaint against him is true, he may have got greedy in India, or careless, but the repercussions will not easily settle down.

Malaysian MPs, including PKR’s Sivarasa Rasiah and William Leong have already demanded that the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission investigate Ananda Krishnan; as it is a crime in Malaysia to bribe foreign officials. Batu’s Tian Chua is concerned that Ananda Krishnan may have employed similar tactics in Malaysia and wants a probe into all deals the Malaysian government has done with Ananda and his companies.

Whatever the end of this sordid affair, it is already a PR disaster and more for Ananda Krishnan, Maxis and its related companies. Ananda Krishnan has usually maintained a low profile, though his nosferatu-like grin is featured often enough in the news, but he will have to explain himself this time; at the very least, to the CBI.

For those who would like to read the CBI FIR for themselves, NDTV has published it at :

http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/ndtv-exclusive-read-the-cbi-fir-against-maran-140920

Malaysia Chronicle