- New development which came as a relief to former Union Minister P. Chidambaram and his son Karti Chidambaram in connection with the Aircel-Maxis case. A Delhi Court on Wednesday granted regular bail in a case filed against them by the CBI and the ED. Earlier in the year 2019, Chidambarams got the anticipatory bail in the same case on a personal bond of Rs one lakh and surety of like amount following the direction to join the probe.
- The case relates to alleged irregularities in the grant of Foreign Investment Promotion Board approval in the Aircel-Maxis deal. The approval in this matter was granted in the year 2006 when Mr Chidambaram was the Finance Minister. Authorities had alleged irregularities in the FIPB clearance granted to the INX Media group for receiving Rs 305 crore overseas funds in 2007. The CBI and the ED had alleged that Chidambaram, as finance minister, had granted approval to the deal beyond his capacity benefiting certain persons and received kickbacks. Chidambaram was arrested by the CBI on August 21, 2019, in the case registered on May 15, 2017.
- Last week, Delhi High Court’s Justice Chandra Dhari Singh on recused himself from hearing a plea by the ED challenging an order that allowed Chidambaram and his son Karti to inspect the documents seized during the investigation. The ED had approached the High Court challenging an earlier trial court order which had given relief to the Chidambarams. In November last year, the High Court had rejected a similar petition filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) challenging the order that allowed inspection of the documents, which were seized during the investigation.
HON’BLE MR JUSTICE CHANDRA DHARI SINGH
Judge, Delhi High Court
