Protection from arrest granted to Chidambaram extended till March 8
The interim protection from arrest granted to former Union minister P Chidambaram and his son Karti Chidambaram in the Aircel-Maxis scam cases was extended till March 8 by a Delhi court on Monday. The cases against the duo were filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED). Karti Chidambaram has been asked by the agency to appear before it on March 5, 6, 7 and 12 for questioning in the cases, Special Judge OP Saini was informed by the ED.
The case relates to alleged irregularities in grant of Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) approval in the Aircel-Maxis deal.
Earlier on February 7, Karti Chidambaram was questioned for about six hours by the ED in connection with a money-laundering probe against him in the INX Media case.
Officials said Karti was summoned to record his statement under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). He was grilled a number of times in the case in the past.
It is understood that Karti was confronted with certain statements of the other accused and witnesses in the case. Officials said he might be called again for questioning.
The ED had attached Karti's assets worth an estimated Rs 54 crore, located in India and abroad, in the case last year.
The central probe agency had registered the PMLA case on the basis of a CBI FIR and had alleged irregularities in the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) clearance to INX Media for receiving overseas funds to the tune of Rs 305 crore in 2007, when P Chidambaram was the finance minister.
It had registered an Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR), the ED's equivalent to a police FIR, against the accused named in the CBI complaint, including Karti, INX Media and its directors - Peter and Indrani Mukerjea.
Karti was arrested on February 28 last year by the CBI, the other central agency investigating the case, for allegedly taking money to facilitate the FIPB clearance to INX Media in 2007. He was granted bail subsequently.
The agency has alleged that Karti received money from INX Media, using his influence to manipulate a tax probe against it in a case of violation of FIPB conditions to receive investments from Mauritius.
