P Chidambaram and son Karti has been named as accused in Aircel-Maxis case
The Central Bureau of Investigation has obtained the sanction to prosecute former Union minister P Chidambaram in the Aircel-Maxis case, but the agency needs to clear a few more hurdles before a court can take up the chargesheet against him.
During the last hearing of the case in October, the court had pulled up the agency for filing a chargesheet without proper sanctions. In absence of the other clearances, the agency told the court about the sanction to prosecute Mr Chidambaram at the eleventh-hour -- a day before the court's deadline.
Of the many sanctions yet to be granted, the foremost is the sanction for prosecution of public servants. According to the rules, this sanction has to come from the parent cadre, which is the state allotted to that officer, and also from the Department of Personnel and Training or DoPT.
Senior agency officials concede that till the agency gets a go-ahead to prosecute five other accused officials, the case won't move ahead. "It's a conspiracy case and to make a watertight case, the agency needs sanction against officers also," explained a senior CBI officer.
The agency has sought more time from court to get the necessary clearances. The CBI has also asked for more time to bring the new evidence before the court. Sources said there is fresh evidence to prove Mr Chidambaram and his son Karti Chidambaram closed bank accounts in foreign countries after a chargesheet was filed in the case. The Chidambarams have been granted protection from arrest till December 18.
The Congress has alleged that former minister has been made a political scapegoat.
The case involves a clearance of $800 million foreign investment granted for the Aircel-Maxis deal in 2006, when Mr Chidambaram was finance minister in the UPA government headed by Dr Manmohan Singh.
While the approval was expected to come from a committee headed by the prime minister, it illegally came from the finance ministry, the CBI said. The agency also contended that a company linked to Mr Chidambaram's son Karti Chidambaram received kickbacks to the tune of Rs 26 lakh. Karti Chidambaram is also being investigated in the case.
Mr Chidambaram has filed a rejoinder to the CBI contention, arguing that it is the Foreign Investment Promotion Board or FIPB which decides the competent authority to give clearance in a given case.
The FIPB, which gave the clearance, was chaired by six senior bureaucrats, his rejoinder said. The list included the secretary, economic affairs, secretaries of industry, commerce, external affairs and overseas Indian affairs ministry and the secretary of the administrative ministry concerned.
"Five of them were among the senior-most IAS officers and sixth was a senior IFS officer of the ministry of external affairs. Each one of them had a long and distinguished record of service," the rejoinder read. It further said the recommendations of the FIPB are submitted to the Ministry of Finance, where after multiple checks, it is presented to the finance minister.