Agencies
The sleuths of Enforcement Directorate conducted raids at the premises of senior Congress leader P.Chidambaram and his son Karti Chidambaram in Chennai and Delhi this morning. Mr Karti Chidambaram is facing charges of money laundering in connection with the Aircel Maxis case. Sources said, four properties were searched in Chennai and one in the national capital. However, Mr Karti’s lawyer has said the Directorate has taken possession of no document during the search.
It is said that the Foreign Investment Promotion Board FIPB in 2006 granted approval for the Aircel-Maxis telecom deal when Mr Chidambaram was the finance minister. The investigating agency says the FIPB acted beyond its mandate since the investment involved was more than its limit. However, Mr Chidambaram denies the charge saying, due procedures were followed.
The Enforcement Directorate earlier issued summons to Mr Karti to appear for questioning, saying a firm is controlled by him has been benefiting from the deal, which he denies. The case investigating being investigated by the CBI as well.
