Former Union minister P Chidambaram on Tuesday moved a Delhi court against the Central Bureau of Investigation for allegedly leaking parts of the chargesheet in the Aircel-Maxis money laundering case, reported PTI. Special Judge OP Saini issued notice to the agency and gave it till October 8 to respond to the charges.
The Congress leader said the investigative agency is making a mockery of the judicial process. “CBI is not interested in a fair trial in a court of law. It wants a trial by the media,” he said on Twitter. He also alleged that while the CBI was yet to provide a copy of the chargesheet to the people named in it, the agency was leaking it to a newspaper in installments.
On July 19, the CBI filed a new chargesheet in the case against 18 people, including Chidambaram and his son Karti Chidambaram. The chargesheet also names retired as well as serving government officials. Both P Chidambaram and Karti Chidambaram are out on interim bail till October 8.
Advocates PK Dubey and Arshdeep Singh, appearing on behalf of Chidambaram, told the court that while the court was yet to take cognisance of the chargesheet, “it appears that the CBI has clandestinely provided a copy of the same to the newspaper which is publishing the same in instalments only to sensationalise the issue and prejudice the accused named therein even before cognisance is taken by this court”.
“In the view of the above, it is clear that the CBI is not interested in a fair trial in a court of law and only wants a trial by media, which is causing prejudice to the rights of the accused persons, including the appellant herein,” the application said.
The case pertains to clearances that the Foreign Investment Promotion Board granted to the firm M/S Global Communication Holding Services Ltd for investment in Aircel in 2006. P Chidambaram was the finance minister at the time and Karti allegedly facilitated bribes in the Aircel-Maxis transaction. The investigative agency is looking into the circumstances in which P Chidambaram, in his capacity as finance minister, approved the investment.
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