Aircel Maxis: CBI gets Centre’s nod to prosecute former Union Minister P Chidambaram

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) today revealed that the Central government has accorded sanction to the agency to proceed against former Union Minister and Congress Leader P Chidambaram in the Aircel Maxis case..“That, the competent authority in the Central Government has accorded sanction for prosecution of accused Sh. P. Chidambaram under Section 197 of Cr.PC and Section 19 of Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 (as amended in 2018) and the same is being filed herewith”, the application submitted to the Special CBI Court reads..Solicitor General Tushar Mehta informed the Court that out of the 18 accused, sanction is mandated from the Centre for only six. With the go-ahead granted to prosecute Chidambaram, the sanction for the remaining five should follow soon, he stated..In July this year, CBI had named Chidambaram and his son Karti Chidambaram as accused in its supplementary charge sheet filed in the Aircel Maxis case before Special CBI Judge OP Saini..It is CBI’s case that Chidambaram – who was the Union Finance Minister at the time when the ₹3,500 crore Aircel-Maxis deal went through – and his son Karti received certain kickbacks to ensure FIPB clearance for the said deal..All the accused persons in the first charge sheet in the Aircel-Maxis case, including former telecom minister Dayanidhi Maran, were acquitted by a Delhi CBI court in February 2017..The case will next be heard on December 18. Meanwhile, interim protection from arrest granted to the father-son duo will remain in force..Image Courtesy: PTI