A special Central Bureau of Investigation court on Saturday granted anticipatory bail to Karti Chidambaram in the Aircel-Maxis case, ANI reported. The court asked the son of former Union minister P Chidambaram to appear before the investigating officer whenever he is summoned.
The court set the next date of hearing as April 16.
Earlier on Saturday, the Enforcement Directorate had opposed the bail petition filed in the Patiala House Court. The agency accused Karti Chidambaram of “forum shopping” and said he had approached “multiple courts through multiple applications”.
The case relates to the approvals the Foreign Investment Promotion Board granted for the Aircel-Maxis deal in 2006, when P Chidambaram was the finance minister. Karti Chidambaram allegedly facilitated bribes in the Aircel-Maxis transaction. The investigative agency is looking into “the circumstances” in which P Chidambaram, in his capacity as the finance minister, granted the Foreign Investment Promotion Board approvals.
“The allegation is that then Finance Minister P Chidambaram had granted the approvals without going to the CCEA,” said lawyer Kapil Sibal, referring to the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs. “The question is whether the finance minister’s approvals were valid. What has that got to do with Karti Chidambaram?”
The Delhi High Court on Friday granted bail to Karti Chidambaram in connection with the INX Media money laundering case. The bench asked him to pay a surety of Rs 10 lakh. He is not allowed to travel abroad and cannot close bank accounts, the court said.
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