Enforcement Directorate (ED) questions P. Chidambaram in Aircel-Maxis case

New Delhi, Aug 24: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) here on Friday questioned former Union Finance Minister P. Chidambaram in the Rs 3,200 crore Aircel-Maxis deal case, officials said. The senior Congress leader appeared before the investigators around 11 a.m. in response to summons issued to him this month. It was the third time the Congress leader joined the probe.

In its probe taken up under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), the ED questioned P. Chidambaram about the circumstances in which he approved the deal during his tenure as the Finance Minister and about the procedures adopted by the now-defunct Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) when the deal was finalised, an ED official said while requesting for anonymity.

The Enforcement Directorate recorded P. Chidambaram’s statement under the PMLA. The Aircel-Maxis case pertains to the grant of FIPB clearance to Global Communication Holding Services Ltd in 2006 for investment in Aircel. The Congress leader was asked similar questions during his interrogation in June too, when he said that what he had told the agency was already recorded in government documents. He also had said that there was no FIR, yet a probe had been initiated. (IANS)