Aircel-Maxis case: ED seeks custodial interrogation of Karti Chidambaram, court extends protection

A Delhi Court on Friday extended interim protection of former union minister P Chidambaram and his son Karti in the Aircel-Maxis case.

The protection was extended in both, CBI's and Enforcement Directorate's (ED) case. The ED stated that they are awaiting the Letters Rogatory from foreign countries.

Special Judge OP Saini extended the interim relief and posted the matter for hearing on May 6 as the probe agency sought more time to gather evidence.

NK Matta, appearing for the ED stated that Karti was examined four times in the month of March.

"He was shown e-mails which were retrieved from the hard disk seized by ED during from his premises and from his associates namely, S Bhaskararaman and Ravi Visvanthan. I submit that Karti chose not to reply to the questions based on the e-mails shown to him, in effect not co-operating with the investigation. It is also submitted that though an accused is not expected to admit guilt, an accused is certainly mandated by law to fully co-operate with the investigation," said Matta while demanding his custodial interrogation on behalf of the ED.

Investigations have revealed a money trail beyond India and Letter Rogatories have been sent to UK and Singapore. ED said that a potential magnitude of revelation may take place. A team headed by special director of ED has been sent to Singapore to ensure that the relevant material/evidence is obtained at the earliest. During the course of the investigation, Karti denied having generated and received e-mails and disclosures of eleven people through whom financial transactions were discussed and carried out.

The case relates to alleged irregularities in grant of Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) approval in the Aircel-Maxis deal.