The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on November 27, 2018, disclosed that the Central government has given sanction to the agency to prosecute the former Union Minister and Congress LeaderP. 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.PCand 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.
During the hearing at the Patiala House court, Attorney Solicitor General Tushar Mehta informed the court that out of the 18 accused, sanctions against five former government servants are awaited whereas there is no requirement of sanction to prosecute the other 12 accused as they are private persons.
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.
As per CBI, it was during Chidambaram's tenure as finance minister in the UPA-1 government that clearance from the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) was granted to proceed with ₹3,500 crore Aircel-Maxis deal. The agency had alleged that Chidambaram and his son Karti received certain kickbacks 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, 2018.
