The Enforcement Directorate has asked Karti Chidambaram, the son of former Union Minister P Chidambaram, to appear for questioning and submit documents in connection with the Aircel-Maxis deal. Karti Chidambaram, who is accused of facilitating bribes in the Aircel-Maxis transaction, has informed investigators that he is abroad and needs time to organise the papers, reported NDTV.
The Aircel-Maxis deal is part of the bigger 2G scam, and investigations into it started in 2015. Officials are looking into how telecom firm Aircel was sold to a Malaysian giant named Maxis. The ED had said that approval for the deal was given when Chidambaram was the finance minister in 2006.
In August 2015, the ED had issued summons to two directors of a firm linked to Karti Chidambaram after an investigation revealed that Rs 26 lakh had allegedly been sent from the firm to Aircel Televentures. A firm owned by Karti Chidambaram also allegedly received payments from Maxis after the deal was executed. The ED had also chargesheeted former Telecom Minister Dayanidhi Maran, his brother Kalanithi and sister-in-law Kavery Kalanithi as accused in the case, reported PTI.
"If the government wishes to target me, they should do so directly, not harass friends of my son who carry on their own businesses and have nothing to do with politics," P Chidambaram had said a few months ago.
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