Court extends Chidambaram interim protection from arrest

A special court here on Tuesday extended interim protection from arrest to former Finance Minister P. Chidambaram and his son Karti till October 8 in the Aircel-Maxis deal case.

The CBI on July 19 filed a chargesheet against 18 persons in the case, including former Finance Minister P. Chidambaram and his son Karti.

The CBI and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) are investigating how Karti Chidambaram managed to get clearance from the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) for the Aircel-Maxis deal in 2006.

On August 29, 2014, the CBI had filed a chargesheet in the case alleging that between July 2004 and September 2008, Dayanidhi Maran, as Minister in the UPA-I government, used his influence to help Malaysian businessman T.A. Ananda Krishnan buy Aircel by coercing its owner Sivasankaran to part with his stake.

Sivasankaran alleged that Maran favoured the Krishnan-owned Maxis Group in the takeover of his company. In return, he alleged, Maxis made investments through Astro Network, a sister concern, in Sun Direct TV Pvt Ltd (SDTPL), stated to be owned by the Maran family.

However, a special court had dropped charges against former Communications Minister Dayanidhi Maran, his brother Kalanithi and others in the alleged kickback of Rs 742 crore in the Aircel-Maxis deal, saying that the "perception or suspicion" was not backed by concrete evidence.

--IANS

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