Aircel-Maxis case: Court extends protection from arrest to P Chidambaram, son Karti till Aug 9

A special CBI court on Thursday extended till August 9 the interim protection from arrest granted to former Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram and his son Karti Chidambaram in connection with the Aircel-Maxis case.

Special CBI Judge OP Saini passed the order after advocate Kapil Sibal and Arshdeep Singh, appearing on behalf of the father-son duo, made several arguments and submissions.

During the course of proceeding, Sibal asserted that the investigation stands completed and both the CBI and ED have filed the charge sheets in the case.

"Karti was called for questioning eight times in 2018 and four times in 2019 by the ED, while his father has only been called once by the CBI in 2014. The charge sheet has been filed. The investigation is complete. The agencies cannot say that my client has not cooperated with them," said Sibal, while arguing for their anticipatory bail.

 

The counsel said that if later the agencies find a ground, they can move a cancellation application.

"How many times will they seek adjournment? They have no grounds to prove that my client has done anything wrong. The agencies are making allegations without producing anything," he said.

The senior advocate said that there is no evidence that P Chidambaram has approached anyone or has tempered with the investigation.

"My client is at no flight risk. There is no reason to deny bail to them," he added.

The cases are being probed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED). Senior advocate Sonia Mathur and Nitesh Rana appeared for ED, while advocate KK Goyal represented CBI in the court today.

The case relates to alleged irregularities in grant of Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) approval in the Aircel-Maxis deal. The FIPB approval was allegedly granted in 2006 when Chidambaram was India's Finance Minister.

According to rules and foreign direct investment (FDI) policy of the Central government, Chidambaram was only empowered to give approval to proposals involving foreign investment up to Rs 600 crore.