Delhi court grants anticipatory bail to P Chidambaram in CBI’s Aircel-Maxis case

NEW DELHI: A court here today granted protection from arrest till August 7 to former Union minister P Chidambaram in the Aircel-Maxis case filed by the CBI.nnSpecial CBI Judge O P Saini granted the relief to the Congress leader after a plea was moved by him in the morning, seeking anticipatory bail in the case.nnChidambaram and his son Karti Chidambaram were named in the chargesheet filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the case on July 19.nnThe agency had filed a supplementary chargesheet before the special judge, who had fixed it for consideration on July 31.nnThe CBI is probing as to how Chidambaram, who was the Union finance minister in 2006, granted a Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) approval to a foreign firm, when only the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) was empowered to do it.nnThe senior Congress leader’s role has come under the scanner of investigating agencies in the Rs 3,500-crore Aircel-Maxis deal and the INX Media case involving Rs 305 crore.nnIn its chargesheet filed earlier in the case against former telecom minister Dayanidhi Maran, his brother Kalanithi Maran and others, the agency had alleged that Chidambaram had granted an FIPB approval in March, 2006 to Mauritius-based Global Communication Services Holdings Ltd, a subsidiary of Maxis.nnThe Maran brothers and the other accused named in the CBI chargesheet were discharged by the special court, which had said the agency had failed to produce any material against them to proceed with the trial.nnThe Enforcement Directorate (ED) is also probing a separate money-laundering case in the Aircel-Maxis matter, in which Chidambaram and Karti have been questioned by the agency.nnBoth Chidambaram and Karti have denied the allegations levelled against them by the CBI and the ED.nnSource: Press Trust of India