CBI should thoroughly probe Chidambaram's role in Aircel-Maxis deal: Swamy

Chidambaram has said there was no violation of rules

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Subramanian Swamy on Saturday said the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) should thoroughly investigate former finance minister P Chidambaram's role in the Aircel-Maxis deal.

 

"It has turned out that in the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) it was known that the Aircel-Maxis deal was an illegal deal because it was directly or indirectly 100% owned by Malaysian industrialist T Ananda Krishnan.......," Swamy told ANI here.

 

He said that Chidambaram never went into the deal and signed it immediately. "Today, he is blaming the officers," he added.

 

The BJP leader further said the matter will be heard in the Supreme Court on September 25.

 

The CBI will probe the circumstances of the FIPB approval given by Chidambaram in the Aircel-Maxis deal in 2006.

 

According to reports, the investigating agency told a special court in its chargesheet that Mauritius-based Global Communication Services Holdings Ltd, a subsidiary of Maxis, had sought approval for $800 million for which the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs was competent to do so.

 

Chidambaram has, however, said that there was no violation of rules in the grant of FIPB approval to Aircel-Maxis deal in 2006.