Ex-Finance Minister P Chidambaram appears before ED in Aircel-Maxis case

New Delhi, June 12 (IANS) The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday questioned former Finance Minister and Congress leader P. Chidambaram for a second time here in the Rs 3,500 crore Aircel-Maxis deal case, officials said.

An ED official said Chidambaram appeared for questioning at the ED's office around 11 a.m. He was summoned to appear on June 6, a day after the agency questioned him for over five hours.

Earlier, a Delhi court had extended the interim protection to him from arrest till July 10 in connection with the case, after directing him to join the probe whenever required. It was the second time when the Congress leader joined the probe. 

The ED had issued a fresh summons to him on June 5 to appear before the investigating officer of the case. The agency recorded his statement under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

The questioning is part of ED's investigation in a money laundering case registered in 2017 against Chidambaram's son Karti Chidambaram in the Aircel-Maxis case.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and ED are investigating how Karti Chidambaram allegedly managed to get a clearance from the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) in the Aircel-Maxis deal when his father was the Union Finance Minister in 2006.

The ED, in September 2017, had attached Rs 1.16 crore worth of assets of Karti Chidambaram, who is being probed for allegedly receiving kickbacks in lieu of the FIPB clearance.