A Delhi court on Friday adjourned Aircel-Maxis case, involving former Union Minister P. Chidambaram and his son Karti, sine die, noting that the CBI and the ED were seeking repeated adjournments. Special Judge O.P. Saini adjourned the matter without giving any date for further hearing, saying that the prosecution may approach the court as and when the probe is complete. The court on Thursday granted anticipatory bail to Chidambarams in the corruption case filed by the CBI as well as in the money laundering matter lodged by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in relation to the Aircel-Maxis deal.
The matter was listed for arguments on the cognizance of charge-sheet in the case. However, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta and Special Public Prosecutor Nitesh Rana, appearing for the CBI and the ED respectively, sought adjournment on the ground that response to Letters Rogatory(LRs) were awaited. The agencies requested the court to adjourn the matter for first week in October. “Prosecution seeking date after dates. Matter deferred sine die. Prosecution asked to approach the Court as and when the investigation is complete and as and when they receive Letters Rogatory (LRs) from various countries,” the court said.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court on Friday refused to release for three more months the Rs 10 crore deposited by Karti Chidambaram with the apex court’s registry for travelling abroad.A bench headed by Justice Deepak Gupta said the amount will continue to remain in fixed deposit for another three months. Karti, who is facing proceedings in cases like Aircel-Maxis and money laundering matters, had deposited Rs 10 crore pursuant to the condition imposed by the apex court for travelling abroad.
CBI and the ED are probing how Karti Chidambaram received clearance from the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) for the Aircel-Maxis deal in 2006 when his father was Union finance minister. CBI and the Enforcement Directorate had alleged that the Congress leader, as finance minister during the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) regime, granted approval to the deal beyond his capacity benefitting certain persons, and received kickbacks.
