Former Finance Minister P Chidambaram was on Wednesday questioned for over six hours by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) during his second round of appearance in the Aircel-Maxis money laundering case, even as he reiterated that there was no offence committed.
The senior Congress leader arrived at the ED office here shortly before 11 am and left after 5 pm, officials said.
Soon after, Chidambaram tweeted, “Another round of questions by ED in Aircel-Maxis case. I remind myself that there is no FIR and no offence is alleged.”
Officials said the investigating officer of the case recorded Chidambaram’s statement under the Prevention of Money laundering Act (PMlA) today, like the last time.
Chidambaram was earlier questioned in the case on June 5 by the ED, an agency that incidentally reported to him during his tenure in the Finance Ministry.
It is understood that the agency put across a fresh set of questions to the Congress leader regarding the Aircel-Maxis deal and on decisions taken by him in connection with this case.
The agency had last time recorded his statement for six hours on various aspects. The ED had also recorded statements of FIPB officials when this deal took place and it is understood that Chidambaram was confronted with those details.
Some specific queries on circumstances and procedures adopted by the now-defunct Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) while giving approval to the Aircel-Maxis deal during his tenure were reported to have been put across to him last time, officials said.
Chidambaram’s son Karti has already been questioned by the ED in this case, twice.
After leaving the ED office on June 5, Chidambaram had tweeted that all answers he gave to the probe agency were already recorded in government documents. He had also said that there is no FIR, yet a probe had been initiated.