Union Textiles Minister Dayanidhi Maran refuted the charges that his family owned Sun Television Network was a beneficiary of pay-offs by a Malaysian company which benefitted from equity sold by Aircel. Talking to reporters at the Chennai airport here on Thursday night, he said, "The allegations are a systematically planned campaign to malign me and my party."

The textile minister said that he became a "political untouchable" after tendering his resignation in May 2008. "After I resigned in May, there could have been an investigation. That was my position then. I was a political untouchable during that period. When I was not a minister nobody wanted to get in touch with me. I have never helped anyone. I was pushed out of political circle," he said.

Citing a letter from the State-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd when he was the Union telecom minister, Maran said, "The letter from BSNL shows, I have only one phone connection." "I wrote to the chief general manager and asked him to explain me, how many lines are there in my residence at Boat Club. Only One BSNL telephone connection, 24375100, was provided to me as a minister," he said. "If I have done wrong, I am ready to face any punishment. I do not need any sympathies and I have to be judged by the law. But if I am innocent, I should be given every right to protect myself and to prove my integrity," he said.