The Enforcement Directorate (ED) said on Thursday that it has received prosecution sanction against senior Congress leader and former Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram in two separate money laundering cases linked to the Aircel-Maxis and INX Media deals. The agency added that it has submitted the sanction before the court to speed up the trial, according to a report by Hindustan Times.
Both the Aircel-Maxis and INX Media deals took place during the Congress-led UPA government, when Chidambaram was serving as finance minister. The ED filed a charge sheet in the Aircel-Maxis case in 2018 and in the INX Media case in 2020, naming the senior Congress leader in both. The court took cognisance of these charge sheets in 2021.
Why were the trials stayed?
Trials in both cases were stayed by the courts because there was no prosecution sanction under Section 197(1) of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), which is now Section 218 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS).
In a November 2024 judgment, the Supreme Court directed the ED to obtain prior sanction under this provision before a court can take cognisance of a charge sheet. Earlier, this requirement applied only to the CBI. The ED said that after several appeals were filed by the accused, it started proactively seeking prosecution sanctions for public servants. Accordingly, sanction to prosecute Chidambaram in both cases was sought and was granted by the competent authority on February 10, the report mentioned.
The ED said it has placed the prosecution sanction order before the special court at Rouse Avenue to ensure that the trials in both cases can move forward quickly.
In the Aircel-Maxis case, Chidambaram has been named as accused number six, while in the INX Media case, he has been listed as accused number one.
Allegations against P Chidambaram in Aircel-Maxis Deal
According to the ED, in the Aircel-Maxis deal, the former finance minister granted approval from the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) in return for a quid pro quo after Maxis applied for foreign direct investment (FDI) approval worth $800 million (Rs 3,565.91 crore). The ED said the approval should have been given by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA), the report mentioned.
“However, as part of a larger conspiracy, approval was fraudulently and dishonestly granted by the then finance minister P Chidambaram on March 20, 2006 who was competent to consider and approve FDI proposals involving total investment of Rs 600 crore or less,” ED said.
The agency also claimed that its investigation found that illegal gratification of Rs 1.16 crore was received by Chidambaram’s son and Congress MP Karti Chidambaram through his companies – Advantage Strategic Consulting Pvt Ltd (ASCPL) and Chess Management Services, the report added.
Allegations against P Chidambaram in INX Media case
In the INX Media case, the ED filed two charge sheets naming both P Chidambaram and Karti Chidambaram. The agency alleged that INX Media received FIPB approval and that illegal gratification was routed through entities beneficially owned or controlled by Karti.