Aircel Maxis case: PC exempted from personal appearance

One-liner: A Delhi Court on Monday granted exemption from personal appearance for the day to ex-Union minister P Chidambaram in corruption and money laundering cases filed against him and his son Karti by the CBI and ED.

Need to know: In the case relating to the Aircel Maxis deal, a special judge granted the relief to Chidambaram after his lawyer informed the court that he was not able to appear before it since he had a preplanned travelling schedule.

Exemption allowed: The court allowed his exemption application for the day, noting that he was granted anticipatory bail in the matter earlier. It directed Karti, also out on anticipatory bail, to file an application seeking regular bail.

• The court also directed the probe agencies to supply copies of the charge sheet and documents to the accused and their lawyers. The agencies have arrayed several individuals and firms as accused in the charge sheet
• The accused appeared in court in pursuance of summons issued against them after the court took cognizance of the charge sheets filed by probe agencies in the matter

About the case: The case relates to alleged irregularities in the grant of Foreign Investment Promotion Board approval in the Aircel-Maxis deal. The approval was granted in 2006 when P Chidambaram was the Union Finance Minister.

• The CBI and the ED had alleged that Chidambaram, as finance minister, had granted approval to the deal beyond his capacity benefiting certain persons and receiving kickbacks 

Source: PTI