A Delhi court on Monday reserved its order for September 5 on anticipatory bail petitions of P Chidambaram and his son Karti in the Aircel-Maxis case. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Enforcement Directorate (ED) had opposed the anticipatory bail applications of P Chidambaram and his son Karti and sought their custodial interrogation case. The two agencies told a Delhi court that the father-son duo was not cooperating and granting them protection from arrest would only hamper the probe in the case. Providing further details to Special judge O P Saini, the CBI and ED said that as the then finance minister, P Chidambaram had granted approval to the Aircel-Maxis deal beyond his capacity, benefitting certain persons and received kickbacks. Both the father and son had committed serious economic offences and there was a larger conspiracy to be unearthed, the CBI and ED said. "They need to be dealt with an iron hand," the agencies said. The Chidambarams are accused of money laundering, creating shell companies and other offences, the ED told the court. On August 24, the Delhi court had pulled up the CBI and ED for seeking repeated adjournments in the case. Both the probe agencies were seeking adjournment on the ground that another case, pertaining to INX Media and involving the father-son duo, was going on in the Supreme Court. The court had extended interim protection from arrest to Chidambaram and Karti till September 3, while reserving the order until then on their anticipatory bail application. Chidambaram was first examined by the CBI in connection with the Aircel-Maxis case in December 2014. He is alleged to have played a role in giving FIPB approval for the deal. It was alleged that the Aircel-Maxis deal was worth over Rs 3,500 crore. (With PTI inputs)
