A special court in Delhi headed by Justice O P Saini adjourned the Aircel-Maxis case sine die (without assigning any future date for a hearing or further meeting).
Former finance minister P Chidambaram, who is currently held in judicial custody in Tihar Jail, and his son Karti Chidambaram are principal accused in the Aircel-Maxis case as well. However, Karti and P Chidambaram were successful in securing an anticipatory bail relief as the court yesterday ordered the reprieve for the beleaguered father-son duo.
Justice Saini instructed the investigative agencies-CBI and ED to revive the case once the investigation is complete. The agencies had sought an adjournment of 6 weeks from the court as they are yet to receive Letters Rogatory(LRs) from the foreign countries. The court adjourning the case sine die asked the investigative agencies to approach the court once they receive the LRs from the foreign countries.
The Aircel-Maxis case relates to the alleged irregularities in the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) clearances granted to the Aircel-Maxis deal at the time when P Chidambaram was Union Finance Minister. The prosecution had alleged that P Chidambaram, who was the Union Finance Minister at the time when the ₹3,500 crore Aircel-Maxis deal went through, and his son Karti received certain kickbacks to ensure FIPB clearance for the said deal.
P Chidambaram is also accused in the INX Media scam which involves charges of bribery and lobbying in granting foreign investments worth over Rs 300 crores to INX Media. INX Media was later known as NewsX, it was owned by Peter and Indrani Mukherjee of the sensational Sheena Bora murder case. Chidambaram is accused of misusing his power as the finance minister to grant INX Media an FIPB clearance. Currently, the former Union Minister is held in judicial custody at Tihar Jail till September 19, 2019.
