Aircel Maxis Case: Delhi High Court Stays Trial Court Proceedings Against P Chidambaram In ED Case

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday stayed the trial court proceedings against senior Congress leader P. Chidambaram in the money laundering case connected to the Aircel Maxis case.

Justice Manoj Kumar Ohri passed the order while dealing with Chidambaram's plea challenging the trial court order taking cognisance of the chargesheet filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) against him.

Chidambaram challenged the order on the ground of lack of sanction for prosecution.

He was represented by Senior Advocate N. Hariharan and Advocates Arshdeep Singh and Akshat Gupta.

On November 27, 2021, the trial court had taken cognisance of the chargesheets filed by the CBI and the ED against P Chidambaram and his Karti Chidambaram in the case.

The trial court had said that there was “sufficient evidence” to summon Chidambarams and other accused persons in the corruption and money-laundering cases.

The case relates to corruption and money laundering allegations pertaining to the FIPB clearance granted for the foreign investment made by Malaysia based Maxis company in Tamil Nadu based network company Aircel in the year 2006.

It was alleged that P Chidambaram, who was the Finance Minister then, had received kickbacks for clearing the Rs 3500 crores Aircel-Maxis deal, and the proceeds were routed through the companies associated with his son Karti.

Both the CBI and Enforcement Directorate had registered cases in relation to the transaction under Prevention of Corruption Act and Prevention of Money Laundering Act respectively.

The ED filed the complaint on June 13, 2018. CBI had filed chargesheet in July 2018.

Title: P Chidambaram v. ED 

Citation: 2024 LiveLaw (Del) 1258