Aircel-Maxis case: Delhi court summons P Chidambaram, his son Karti

A Delhi court on Saturday issued summons to former finance minister P Chidambaram, his son Karti Chidambaram and others regarding the Aircel Maxis case being investigated by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). 

The case, pertaining to the corruption and money laundering charges, relates to alleged irregularities in the grant of Foreign Investment Promotion Board approval (FIPB) approval in the Aircel-Maxis deal. FIPB's approval allegedly came in 2006 when Chidambaram was the Union Finance Minister.

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The Rose Avenue court took cognizance of the chargesheets filed by the two probe agencies in the matter and issued summons to all accused to appear before the court on December 20, which is the next date of hearing. The chargesheet was filed in 2018 against Chidambaram and former finance ministry officials in the matter. The case was stalled due to delay in obtaining sanction for prosecution of all accused.

The CBI is investigating how Karti Chidambaram, son of Congress leader P Chidambaram, received clearance from the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) for the Aircel-Maxis deal in 2006 when his father was the Union finance minister.

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The ED is investigating the money laundering aspect of the crime.

Both the probe agencies had alleged that P Chidambaram, as finance minister during the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) regime, granted approval to the deal beyond his capacity benefiting certain persons, and received kickbacks.

(Inputs by Aneesha Mathur.)