Special Court revives Aircel Maxis case, directs CBI, ED to file status report

Five months after it was adjourned sine die, a Special CBI court in Delhi's Rouse Avenue Court has revived the Aircel Maxis case and directed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Enforcement Directorate (ED) to file its status report.Former Union Minister P Chidambaram and son, Karti Chidambaram are the key accused in the case..Restoring the case, the Court of Special CBI Judge Sujata Kohli on January 28 ordered, ."I am of the considered opinion that keeping this matter as 'adjourned sine die', would not be conducive to the interest of justice and the file is revived/restored to its original number."Delhi Court .Subsequently, the matter was taken up on Friday and the Agencies were granted two more weeks to file the status report..The case pertains to the alleged irregularities in the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) approvals granted to the Aircel-Maxis deal at the time when P Chidambaram was Union Finance Minister. .It is prosecution’s case that P 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..Both the CBI and the ED had filed a chargesheet against former Union Minister, P Chidambaram, his son Karti Chidambaram and others in the case in July 2018. .In spite of sanction from the Central Government, the cognizance on the chargesheet is yet to happen. .Then presididng Judge OP Saini had adjourned the case sine die due to the repeated adjournments in the case being sought by the Agencies..After Judge Saini's retirement, Judge Kohli took over the Special Court and she decided to revive the case in view of the serious nature of allegations..In her order reviving the Aircel Maxis case, Kohli informs,"While going through the last pendency of this Court, which shows '0' pendency, the then Reader Sh. Madhusudan Pandey (earlier Ahlmad) informed the undersigned that Ld. Predecessor had directed two criminal cases to be adjourned 'sine die' and to be consigned to Record Room. The chargesheet is already pending since last nine years awaiting cognizance..".Kohli also opined that the earlier ordersheets showed that Judge Saini was "was not inclined to adjourn the matter at all and all the adjournments were being given reluctantly". She further added that there was "no such concept or term as 'adjourned sine die' under the scheme of CrPC"..A day before the case was adjourned sine die, the Court had granted anticipatory bail to P Chidambaram and Karti Chidambaram in the Aircel Maxis case. .The matter would be heard next on Februray 14..Read the Order:Central Bureau of Investigation and Enforcement Directorate to file its status report