ED action intended to silence me, says P Chidambaram

NEW DELHI: Enforcement Directorate's (ED) move on Monday to attach assets worth Rs 1.16 crore of Karti Chidambaram and a firm allegedly linked to him in Aircel-Maxis deal, prompted a sharp reaction from his father and former finance minister P Chidambaram who called the action "a crazy mixture of falsehoods and conjectures".

"ED's action is intended to intimidate me and to silence my voice. I will not be intimidated", Chidambaram said. As and when the attachment order is served, "suitable action will be taken in accordance with law," said the senior Congress leader as he questioned ED's jurisdiction in the matter on the ground that the only charghesheet filed in the case had been quashed.

But while Chidambaram questioned ED's jurisdiction claiming that the case has been quashed by a special CBI judge earlier this year, officials said the decision did not mean the court has halted further investigation related to foreign investment promotion board (FIPB) approvals which were allegedly cleared illegally in lieu of money that was laundered.

Denying the charge that his son exploited his position as the then finance minister to secure FIPB approval for the controversial deal, Chidambaram said: " FIPB officials who were examined by the CBI have affirmed that the FIPB consisting of secretaries to government of India, correctly approved and recommended the case and placed the minutes before the finance minister (who was the competent authority) for the approval. The approval was granted in the normal course".

However, CBI and ED officials rejected the " intimidation" charge and dismissed as "completely wrong" the argument of Chidambaram and Karti that all proceedings in Aircel-Maxis deal probe had been terminated by a special court.

"There is not discharge. Case was quashed against four Indian accused persons, not others based abroad and we have not been stopped from probing proceeds of crime. Anyway, the court order has been challenged in HC," said a senior CBI officer, asserting the the agency was determined to press ahead with the probe. Sources said that CBI cannot be restrained from proving evidence of wrongdoing merely because procedure was allegedly followed in form.

In its money laundering case, ED had chargesheeted the Maran brothers, Kavery Kalanithi, the managing director of South Asia FM Ltd (SAFL), K Shanmugam, and SAFL and Sun Direct TV Pvt Ltd (SDTPL) under provisions of the PMLA. CBI had filed a chargesheet against the Maran brothers, Ralph Marshall, T Ananda Krishnan and four firms — Sun Direct TV (P) Ltd, Astro All Asia Networks Plc, UK, Maxis Communications Berhad, Malaysia, South Asia Entertainment Holdings Ltd, Malaysia — and then additional secretary (telecom) J S Sarma, who had died during the course of the probe