Court extends interim protection from arrest granted to Chidambaram

A Delhi court on Monday extended till November 1 the interim protection from arrest granted to former Union Minister P Chidambaram and his son Karti in the Aircel-Maxis case filed by Central Bureau of Investigation and the Enforcement Directorate.

Special CBI Judge O P Saini put up the matter for November 1 after the counsel appearing for agencies sought an adjournment in the matter.

Advocates appearing for the CBI and the ED, Additional Solicitor General Tushar Mehta and Nitesh Rana, told the court that the agencies required time to file a detailed reply and argue on the application filed through Chidambaram's lawyers P K Dubey and Arshdeep Singh.

Chidambaram and his son were named in the chargesheet filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation in the case on July 19.

The agency filed a supplementary charge sheet before the special judge, who will consider it on next date.

The CBI is probing how Chidambaram, who was the Union finance minister in 2006, granted a Foreign Investment Promotion Board approval to a foreign firm, when only the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs was empowered to do it.

The senior Congress leader's role has come under the scanner of investigating agencies in the Rs 3,500-crore Aircel-Maxis deal and the INX Media case involving Rs 305 crore.

In its charge sheet filed earlier in the case against former telecom minister Dayanidhi Maran, his brother Kalanithi Maran and others, the agency had alleged that Chidambaram had granted an FIPB approval in March, 2006 to Mauritius-based Global Communication Services Holdings Ltd, a subsidiary of Maxis.

The Maran brothers and the other accused named in the CBI chargesheet were discharged by the special court, which had said the agency had failed to produce any material against them to proceed with the trial.

The Enforcement Directorate is also probing a separate money-laundering case in the Aircel-Maxis matter, in which Chidambaram and Karti have been questioned by the agency.

Both Chidambaram and Karti have denied the allegations levelled against them by the CBI and the ED.