Union Textiles Minister Dayanidhi Maran on Wednesday called all allegations against him in the 2G scam as malicious and untrue, amid clamour for his resignation and reports that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) will question him on the charges.
He said he never favoured one company over another as the telecoms minister.
The former telecoms minister and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) leader said: "I was not even a minister when Astro invested in Sun Direct TV [family owned TV company].
Malaysia-based Astro had invested in family-owned Sun Direct in 2007, reports said.
"It is a malicious propaganda against me. Charges are not true," he said in a statement, as the clamour for his resignation grow loud from the Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the AIADMK and other parties.
He said "no telecom company has ever invested in companies owned by my brother Kalanidhi Maran when I was Telecom Minister."
Maran also met the present telecom minister Kapil Sibal on Wednesday.
Media reports said the CBI is likely to file chargesheet against former telecom minister Dayanidhi Maran in connection with the 2G spectrum scam, media reports said on Wednesday.
According to CBI sources, Maran's statement will be recorded under 161 Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (CrPc) next week.
The CBI will reportedly grill him on the kind of force and monetary influences he allegedly faced as telecom minister.
Lokpal Bill Drafting Committee member Prashant Bhushan on Wednesday filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court requesting for a CBI probe against Maran and his granduncle DMK chief Karunanidhi's wives Dayalu Ammal and Rajathi Ammal.
Maran is facing corruption allegations levelled against him by a magazine report earlier this week, as the fallout from the massive 2G telecoms scandal seemed broaden.
The cover story of the June 4 issue of Tehelka magazine published online claimed that during his tenure as the federal telecoms minister in 2006, Maran had allowed carrier licenses to an operator only after it struck a deal with him to invest in his family-owned television network.
"While businessman Mr Sivasankaran owned (mobile operator) Aircel, Maran refused to give him telecom licences. However, soon after Sivasankaran sold Aircel to Malaysian billionaire Ananda Krishnan of the Maxis group, Maran released 14 licences in lucrative circles," the magazine said.
"A few months after this, in a clear case of conflict of interest, Krishnan invested Rs 700 crore in Sun TV and Sun Radio, wholly owned by Dayanidhi's brother, Kalanidhi Maran and his wife," Tehelka reported.
Maran is part of the DMK, an ally of the Congress party and the part of the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government at the Centre, whose members have been accused of masterminding the 2G spectrum scandal.
Maran on Monday reportedly sent a legal notice to the Tehelka, calling the report a "blatant and concocted lie" and threatened to sue the magazine.
"The reports published in the magazine are totally false, defamatory, derogatory and has been published with a malafide intention and ulterior motive," the notice read, according to media reports.
Tehelka, however, said it was yet to receive such a notice.
"Mr Maran, now Union Minister for Textiles, has threatened to sue Tehelka over this story. We are yet to get the legal notice. However, given the nature of stories we do, such notices are par for the course and merely an intimidatory tactic," a note from the magazine said.
"This expose is a glaring example of the sort of crony capitalism that is crippling the country and damaging its reputation worldwide," said Tehelka Managing Editor Shoma Chaudhury on Tuesday.
The 2G spectrum scandal has come as the biggest blow to the Congress-led coalition government at the Centre in recent years as opposition parties have whacked it with the issue at every opportunity since late last year.
The allegations have seriously undermined the Congress-DMK alliance and after a resounding defeat for the alliance in the DMK's home state Tamil Nadu, there were reports of cracks within the partnership.
Analysts say, as the 2G storm intensifies and takes in more DMK casualties, the the ruling coalition government which holds a thin majority in the parliament could come under pressure if the south Indian party pulls out.
