Trouble Mounts For Chidambaram As Interim Protection From Arrest In Aircel-Maxis Case Also Ends Today

The interim protection, in Aircel-Maxis cases, was first granted to Chidambaram in July last year and since then it has been extended from time to time. The cases relate to alleged irregularities in grant of Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) approval to the Aircel-Maxis deal.

New Delhi: Troubles don’t seem to be ending for former Finance Minister P Chidambaram after he was sent on 4-day CBI custody on Thursday over INX Media case. Chidambaram’s protection of arrest in Aircel-Maxis case is also set to end on Friday. As per sources, Chidambaram was quizzed by CBI officials till 12 am on Thursday night and the quizzing was set to begin again at 9 am on Friday. Both Chidambaram and his son Karti are facing charges in Aircel-Maxis corruption and money laundering cases. The interim protection, in Aircel-Maxis cases, was first granted to Chidambaram in July last year and since then it has been extended from time to time. The cases relate to alleged irregularities in grant of Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) approval to the Aircel-Maxis deal. Chidambaram and Karti were named in the charge sheet filed by the CBI on July 19 last year. The CBI is probing how Chidambaram, as finance minister in 2006, granted FIPB approval to a foreign firm, when only the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) was empowered to do it. The ED is also probing a separate money-laundering case in the Aircel-Maxis matter, in which the Chidambarams have been questioned by the agency and their anticipatory bail is pending. The Chidambarams have 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. It was during his tenure as finance minister in the UPA-I government that clearances from FIPB were given to the two ventures.