Aircel-Maxis case: Court extends protection from arrest to P Chidambaram, son

A Delhi court on Friday extended till September 3 the interim protection from arrest and reserved its order on the anticipatory bail plea moved by senior Congress leader and former union minister P Chidambaram and his son Karti Chidambaram in connection with the Aircel-Maxis case.

The court reserved the order on the pre-arrest bail after the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Enforcement Directorate (ED) sought a fresh date to present their arguments.

On August 1, Kapil Sibal, while arguing for the anticipatory bail of the duo, had contended that the investigation in the case stands completed and that the charge sheet has also been filed by both the agencies.

"Karti was called for questioning eight times in 2018 and four times in 2019 by the ED, while his father has only been called once by the CBI in 2014. The agencies cannot say that my client has not cooperated with them," Sibal had said.

He had said that if later the agencies find a ground, they can move a cancellation application.

"How many times will they seek adjournment? They have no grounds to prove that my client has done anything wrong. The agencies are making allegations without producing anything," the counsel had said.

The case, which is being probed by the CBI and ED, relates to alleged irregularities in grant of Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) approval in the Aircel-Maxis deal.

The FIPB approval was allegedly granted in 2006 when Chidambaram was the union finance minister.

According to rules and foreign direct investment (FDI) policy of the Central government, Chidambaram was only empowered to give approval to proposals involving foreign investment up to Rs 600 crore.