Court extends protection from arrest to P Chidambaram, son till Aug 23 in Aircel-Maxis cases

A Delhi court Friday extended the interim protection from arrest granted to former Union minister P Chidambaram and his son Karti in Aircel-Maxis cases filed by the CBI and the ED.

Special Judge O P Saini extended the relief, which was to end today, till August 23, saying the court was not available for arguments on the anticipatory bail applications of the father-son duo in the cases by both the agencies in the matter.

Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for the Chidambarams in the corruption case lodged by the CBI and the money laundering case filed by the ED, had on August 1 termed the probe in the Aircel-Maxis matter as "motivated" and said that the agencies had no ground for their arrest.

The matter was then adjourned for Friday after CBI and ED, represented by senior advocate Sonia Mathur and advocates N K Matta and Nitesh Rana respectively, sought time to argue the matter.

The agencies, also represented by advocates Noor Rampal and A R Aditya, had earlier alleged before the court that Karti was destroying the evidence whenever he went abroad.

Advocates P K Dubey and Arshdeep Singh, appearing for Karti, had opposed the contention made by the agencies.

The case relates to alleged irregularities in grant of Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) approval in the Aircel-Maxis deal.

The father-son duo were given interim protection from arrest by the court after they filed anticipatory bail applications in the case. The protection has been extended from time to time.

Chidambaram and Karti were named in the charge sheet filed by the CBI in the case on July 19 last year.

The CBI is probing how Chidambaram, when 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.