Aircel-Maxis case: CBI asks Karti to appear before it on October 4

The CBI has strongly contradicted the claim that a special court had discharged all accused and terminated proceedings in the matter

The CBI has issued a fresh notice to Karti Chidambaram asking him to appear before the agency for questioning on October 4 in the Aircel-Maxis case, sources said on Wednesday.

The CBI had earlier asked Karti to appear before it on September 14, but he refused to appear arguing that a special court had discharged all the accused and terminated proceedings in the matter.

The CBI has strongly contradicted the claim and said that the investigation was still on.

The agency wants to question him in connection with the foreign investment clearance given in 2006 in the Aircel-Maxis deal when his father P Chidambaram was the finance minister, the sources said.

Karti wrote to the agency that after the discharge of the accused and "termination" of the proceedings, the CBI would not have jurisdiction to issue a summons in connection with the case.

The CBI strongly contradicted claims of Karti, saying only four, including two companies, of the eight charge-sheeted accused were discharged by the special court and that the agency had already filed an appeal against the order in the Delhi High Court in May this year.

CBI spokesperson Abhishek Dayal had said that the FIR in the case "has not been quashed by the court and further investigation under 173(8) of the CrPC is continuing".

He said two Malaysian nationals and two Malaysian companies who were charge-sheeted by the CBI in the matter did not appear before the special court and warrants were issued against the individuals.

P Chidambaram, in a statement in 2014, had dismissed the allegations against him, saying the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) clearance was granted in due course.