ED Raids Karti Chidambaram’s Residences Over Aircel-Maxis Case

File image of Karti P Chidambaram. 

(Photo: PTI)

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Saturday, 13 January, conducted searches at multiple premises linked to Karti Chidambaram, the son of Congress leader P Chidambaram, in connection with its money laundering probe in the Aircel-Maxis case.

Official sources said the raids are being conducted in Delhi and Chennai since early morning.

The central probe agency, on 1 December 2017, had conducted similar searches on the premises of a relative of Karti and others in this case.

Speaking on the ED raids at his son’s residences, P Chidambaram, Senior Congress leader said:

There is no FIR concerning a scheduled crime by CBI or any agency. I anticipated they’ll search premises in Chennai again, but in a comedy of errors, they came to Jor Bagh (in Delhi) and officers told me that they thought Karti is an occupant of this house but he is not.

He further said that the ED found nothing upon searching the house, ultimately justifying themselves through a statement made by the government in the Parliament a few years ago.

The ED has no jurisdiction to investigate under PMLA.

Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala too lashed out against the government and the agencies over the raids. “We are not surprised by the malicious vendetta being unleashed against senior Congress leaders, including P Chidambaram and his son. Everyday PM Modi and his government use ED and CBI as captive puppets to seek revenge from opposition”, he said.

The ED case pertains to the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) approval granted in 2006 by the then finance minister P Chidambaram.

The agency had said it is investigating “the circumstances of the said FIPB approval granted by the then finance minister (P Chidambaram)".

The ED also alleged that Karti has "disposed" of a property in Gurgaon, which he had allegedly rented out to a multinational company, "to whom foreign direct investment (FDI) approval had been granted in 2013".

It charged that Karti had “also closed certain bank accounts and attempted to close other bank accounts in order to frustrate the process of attachment” under the PMLA.

The agency said FIPB approval in the Aircel-Maxis FDI case was granted in March 2006 by the then FM, even though he was competent to accord approval on project proposals only up to Rs 600 crore, and beyond that, it required the approval of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA).

"In the instant case, the approval for FDI of 800 million USD (over Rs 3,500 crore) was sought. Hence, CCEA was competent to grant approval.

"However, approval was not obtained from CCEA," it alleged.

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