Aircel-Maxis case: Enforcement Directorate grills Chidambaram, CBI’s turn today

NEW DELHI: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday grilled former finance minister P Chidambaram for over six hours in connection with the Aircel-Maxis money laundering case. This is the first time when Chidambaram has deposed for questioning before the ED.

Chidambaram will be also be questioned by Central Bureau of Investigation in Aircel-Maxis deal case on Wednesday. According to the CBI sources, he is expected to reach the CBI office by 11 am.
On Tuesday, he arrived at the ED office in Jamnagar house around 11 am accompanied by a lawyer. The security was already beefed up and local police and CRPF personnel were deployed outside the office. After grilling him for almost two and half hours, he was allowed to go out for lunch around 1.30 pm, an ED official said.

The grilling began at 3 pm again and ended around 7 pm. The agency had issued fresh summons to him on Monday to appear before the investigating officer of the case. The ED had first asked him to appear before it on May 30 and on the same day, Chidambaram knocked on the court’s door.
The agency had said that the FIPB approval in the Aircel-Maxis FDI case was granted in March 2006 by Chidambaram even though he was competent to accord approval on project proposals only up to `600 crore and beyond that it required the approval of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA).