Aircel Maxis case: CBI court extends interim protection of Karti, P Chidambaram

New Delhi, Dec 18: Patiala House Court on Tuesday adjourned the Aircel-Maxis case till 11th January. The court also extended the interim protection of P Chidambaram and his son Karti Chidambaram till 11th January in both CBI and ED cases.

Last month the CBI obtained the sanction required to prosecute former Union Minister P Chidambaram in the Aircel-Maxis case. The court had extended the protection from arrest to Chidambaram and his son Karti till December 18, also granted three weeks to the agency to get sanction against some other people who are accused in the case.

Chidambaram and Karti have been questioned by the ED on various occasions, even though the politician has not been arrayed as an accused. Both have denied the allegations levelled against them by the CBI and the ED.

The senior Congress leader and his son have 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.

In its charge sheet filed earlier in the case against former telecom minister Dayanidhi Maran, his brother Kalanithi Maran and others, the CBI alleged that P Chidambaram granted FIPB (Foreign Investment Promotion Board) approval in March 2006 to Mauritius-based Global Communication Services Holdings Ltd, a subsidiary of Maxis.

(With PTI inputs)