CJI Misra recuses from hearing Aircel-Maxis case

Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra on Wednesday recused from hearing the Aircel-Maxis case and sent the case to another Supreme Court bench hearing the 2G scam case.

The court was hearing the submissions by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Subramanian Swamy.

Swamy had sought prosecution of many in the Aircel-Maxis deal case.

The 2G spectrum case relates to the 2G spectrum licence allocations in 2007-08, which caused, according to a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India, a loss of Rs 1.76 lakh crore to the public exchequer.

It was among the major corruption scandals that came to light during the second term of the UPA Government headed by Manmohan Singh.

The Aircel-Maxis deal refers to a series of allegations of kickbacks in the telecom sector, which was part of the wider 2G scam.

In 2011, former Aircel head C Sivasankaran complained to the CBI that he was being forced by then telecom minister Dayanidhi Maran to sell Aircel to the Malaysia-based Maxis Communications group owned by T Ananda Krishnan.

--ANI