The agency had issued fresh summons to P Chidambaram yesterday (File)
Former Union minister P Chidambaram, who was questioned for nearly six hours today by the Enforcement Directorate in connection with the Aircel-Maxis money laundering case, said in a series of tweets that the questions and answers were what is already on file.
This was the first time the senior Congress leader was questioned by the agency in the Aircel-Maxis case. In the evening, the senior Congress leader tweeted, "Appeared before the ED. The questions were about what is already recorded in the file. Hence, answers too were what is recorded in the file".
Mr Chidambaram had reached agency's Delhi headquarters after the hearing of his plea seeking relief from arrest. The Delhi High Court has granted him immunity till July 10. In the middle of questioning, he was allowed a lunch break, after which the questioning resumed. The agency had issued fresh summons to him yesterday.
The Central Bureau of Investigation and the Enforcement Directorate are investigating the foreign investment clearance granted in 2006 for the Aircel-Maxis deal, when Mr Chidambaram was Finance Minister in the UPA government. His son is also being investigated in the case.
The agency alleges that the clearance for the 800 million dollar was illegally given to the company by the finance ministry and a company linked to Karti Chidambaram has received kickbacks to the tune of Rs 26 lakh.
The approval was expected to come from the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs or CCEA, headed by then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Instead, it came from the finance ministry, which only has the power to approve investments of far smaller sums upto Rs 600 crore.
Karti Chidambaram is also being investigated in the case involving foreign investment approval to INX media in 2007. At the time, the company was headed by Peter and Indrani Mukerjea, who are in jail over the murder of Indrani Mukerjea's daughter Sheena Bora. Karti Chidambaram, who was arrested earlier this year, is out on bail.