Aircel Maxis: Court Grants Bail to P Chidambaram, Son in CBI, ED Cases

Court had earlier granted anticipatory bail to the accused, accepting bail bonds of Rs 1 lakh each in the two cases.

P Chidambaram and Karti were both under investigation in the Aircel-Maxis case.

(Photo: Arnica Kala/The Quint)

A Delhi court on Wednesday, 23 March granted regular bail to Former Finance Minister P Chidambaram and his son Karti in money laundering and corruption cases filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Enforcement Directorate (ED) respectively in connection to the Aircel-Maxis scam.

The court had earlier granted anticipatory bail to the accused duo in the matter, accepting the bail bonds of Rs 1 lakh each in the two cases.

The two had moved their application through advocate Arshdeep Singh.

The accused sought relief after appearing before the court, pursuing summons issued against them, after the court took cognisance of the charge sheets that were filed in the matter by probe agencies.

The Aircel-Maxis controversy, a case which has been carrying on since 2011, has its roots in the 2G spectrum ‘scam’.

The Case

The CBI and the ED had alleged that the Congress leader, while serving as finance minister, had granted approval to the Aircel-Maxis deal beyond his capacity, which in turn benefited certain people and received kickbacks.

The CBI was examining the former Union Minister, questioning whether he was competent for giving Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) sanction for the foreign investment in Aircel since he could only sanction investment up to Rs 600 crore. The Aircel-Maxis deal was worth Rs 3,500 crore, which they argue needed approval of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA).

Earlier, the court had instructed the agencies to file status report in the case.

(With inputs from PTI.)