P Chidambaram, Karti file rejoinders in Aircel-Maxis case

New Delhi (India), Nov 23, (ANI): Former Union Minister and senior Congress leader P Chidambaram and his son Karti have filed their rejoinders in a Delhi court in the Aircel Maxis deal case. The rejoinders filed through advocate Arshdeep Khurana on Thursday opposed the allegations leveled against them by the investigating agencies.

On November 1, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate in their detailed replies had sought custodial interrogation of the father-son duo and also opposed the anticipatory bail plea filed by Chidambaram.

CBI, in its reply to the court, had claimed that Chidambaram could influence the investigation into the case which is a "much larger conspiracy". The probe agency also alleged that the former union minister has been "misusing" his interim protection.

CBI had also said that there is a very strong case against Karti and the interim protection granted to him should be canceled immediately. It also asserted that Karti has filed multiple petitions and has indulged in a gross abuse of law proceedings.

Earlier, the court had extended the interim protection to Chidambaram and Karti till November 26 in the Aircel Maxis case.

The Aircel Maxis case, which emerged out of the 2G spectrum cases, pertains to a grant of the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) approval to firm M/S Global Communication and Services Holdings Limited, Mauritius for investment in Aircel. The FIPB approval was allegedly granted in the year 2006 when Chidambaram was the finance minister.

According to the rules and Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) policy of the government, Chidambaram was only empowered to give approval to proposals involving foreign investment up to Rs 600 crore only. However, he approved the foreign investment proposal of Global Communication and Services Holdings Ltd worth Rs 3560 crore approximately.