The Enforcement Directorate on Friday moved the Supreme Court against the verdict of a special court that dropped all charges against former telecom minister Dayanidhi Maran, his brother Kalanithi Maran and other accused in the Aircel-Maxis case, ANI reported. The ED said the Maran brothers and others were discharged without furnishing property as bail bond and urged the apex court to not release the properties attached to the case.

The Central Bureau of Investigation had filed a chargesheet against the Maran brothers, Ralph Marshall, Sun Direct TV Pvt Ltd, Maxis Communications Berhad and South Asia Entertainment Holdings Ltd, among others, accusing them of criminal conspiracy punishable under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and Prevention of Corruption Act.

However, the special CBI court on Thursday said that the entire case was based on “misreading of official files” and “contradictory statements of the witnesses”, reported The Indian Express. Special judge OP Saini observed that the investigative agency’s inquiry lacked “legally admissible evidence”.

Judge Saini said Dayanidhi Maran had no role in the delay of licenses granted to Punjab, Haryana and Kerala; they were “pending due to issues related to the impending FDI policy”, the English daily reported. Besides the Maran brothers, the court also dropped charges against Sun Direct TV and South Asia Entertainment.

Moreover, Bharatiya Janata Party leader Subramanian Swamy will present his case against former finance minister P Chidambaram in the Supreme Court on Friday. He has alleged that the Congress leader had illegally granted Foreign Investment Promotion Board clearance to the Rs 3,500-crore Aircel-Maxis deal in 2006. Downplaying the special court’s verdict, Swamy told ANI on Thursday, “The main case is related to the illegal FIPB clearance given by Chidambaram, which is my case. Maran is a co-conspirator.”

During his term as telecom minister, Dayanidhi Maran had been accused of abusing his official position and causing a loss Rs 1.78 crore to the public exchequer. The CBI, which registered the case in July 2013, had accused him of illegally installing at least 364 high-end telecommunication facilities at one of his houses. The ED had filed a chargesheet in the case against the former Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam leader, his brother and sister-in-law Kavery Kalanithi, as well.