After more than six years of litigation, the CBI on Thursday chargesheeted former Finance Minister P Chidambaram, his son Karti, and nephew A Palaniappan in the Aircel-Maxis scam. In its 5,000-page chargesheet, backed by three trunks of documents produced before the 2G Special Court, the CBI accused Chidambaram of abuse of power and criminal conspiracy to benefit Karti’s firms. The charges are filed under the provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act and Section 120(B) of the IPC.
There are 18 accused, including six companies, in the case. The case relates to “blatant” violation of Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) rules that allowed Malaysian firm Maxis to take over Chennai-based mobile phone operator Aircel in 2006.
The other accused are: Former Finance Secretaries Ashok Jha, Ashok Chawla, Maxis owner T Ananda Krishnan and his CEO Ralph Marshall. Kumar Sanjay Krishnan, former Joint Secretary in Finance Ministry, former Deputy Secretary Deepak Kumar Singh and former Under Secretary Ram Saran and Aircel CEO V Sreenivasan and Chidambaram family’s Chartered Accountant S Bhaskarraman too have been chargesheeted by the CBI.
Karti-controlled firms Advantage Strategic Consulting and Chess Management Services are accused by the CBI of receiving around two million dollars from Maxis and its subsidiaries after father Chidambaram gave “illegal and dubious” FIPB approval.
Maxis Group’s four companies Astro All Asia, Maxis Mobile SDM, Bumi Armada Berhad and Bumi Armada Navigationr Berhad too are accused of transferring kickback money and lobbying to get “illegal” FIPB clearance.
Submitting the chargesheet before Judge OP Saini, Senior Public Prosecutor AK Goel and CBI Investigating Officer SK Sinha told the court the agency is awaiting sanction from the Finance Ministry for the prosecution of five former Finance Ministry officials. The prosecutor also said the probe against the Apollo Hospital Group-linked firm Sindya Securities is continuing and a supplementary chargesheet will be filed in this case. After the brief argument, Judge OP Saini fixed the matter to July 31 for consideration of the chargesheet.
In the chargesheet, the CBI accused Chidambaram of illegally approving the Maxis’ request for FIPB approval to take over the Aircel in 2006. The Maxis wanted to invest over Rs 3,600 crore whereas then FIPB Chairman Chidambaram had the power to approve FDI of up to Rs 600 crore. Any FDI proposals above Rs 600 crore was required to be submitted to the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA).
Incidentally, during that period maximum foreign investment allowed in telecom sector was 74 per cent, but Maxis was allowed to illegally acquire 99.3 per cent shares in Aircel.
The CBI has charged Karti and his firms with accepting around Rs 1.16 core (two million dollars) from Maxis when the files for FIPB approval were pending with father Chidambaram. Rs 26 lakh was received by Advanatage and balance of the amount was received through Chess Management Services.
In May 2012, BJP leader Subramanian Swamy approached Supreme Court’s 2G Bench and accused the CBI of not probing Chidambaram’s role in the FIPB approval. In March 2018, the Supreme Court directed the CBI and the ED to finish the probe within six months. The Enforcement Directorate has already attached Karti’s bank accounts for the Rs 1.16 crore-kickbacks under money laundering in October 2017 and filed chargesheet in the 2G Court. The ED is also expected to file chargesheet against Chidambaram soon.