[dropcap color=”#008040″ boxed=”yes” boxed_radius=”8px” class=”” id=””]T[/dropcap]he CBI on Monday informed the Supreme Court that they are probing the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) violations in the Aircel-Maxis scam during former Finance Minister P Chidambaram’s tenure. The agency also said it will submit a detailed report on the next sitting on May 2. Meanwhile The Enforcement Directorate (ED) also submitted their findings in the scam in a sealed cover. The petitioner Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Subramanian Swamy handed over the letter from the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to the apex court about the agency’s communication on the probe of FIPB violations in the Aircel-Maxis scam
CBI has already interrogated Chidambaram in December 2014. However the agency did not go further due to the influence of the unholy club in Lutyens’ Delhi.
The ED’s report is believed to have detailed the violations committed by Chidambaram in providing the clearance of the FIPB in allowing Malaysian company Maxis to take over Aircel. The ED also provided the details of money trail of two lakh dollars ($200,000) from three subsidiaries of Maxis to Chidambaram’s son Karti’s company Chess Management Consultants Private Limited. This is a damning evidence of quid-pro-quo in the corrupt deal, where the son’s company gets money after the father Minster approves a dubious deal.
Swamy accused CBI of delaying the probe for more than five years and requested the SC Bench comprising Chief Justice JS Khehar and Justice DY Chandrachud to direct the agencies to finish the probe within the specified time limit. The BJP leader had approached SC detailing the violations in FIPB approval given by Chidambaram and Rs.26 lakh money trail to Karti linked company from the telecom company in 2006.
Maxis invested more than Rs.3600 crores and the proposal had to get mandatory clearance from Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA). The illegality was done by Chidambaram as Finance Minister who could approve only loans of Rs.600 crores or less. Higher amounts required the approval of the Cabinet Committee for Economic Affairs (CCEA). Another violation was, those days in 2006, the maximum foreign investment allowed in telecom sector was only 74 percent. But Maxis acquired 99.93 percent. Though declared in Indian records as owning only 73.5 percent in Aircel, Maxis declared to the Malaysian Stock Exchange that they have acquired 99.93 percent shares of Aircel. Later in 2012, CAG found that Rs.4700 crores was the actual value Maxis invested in Aircel, while the FIPB clearance “illegally” given by Chidambaram was only up to invest Rs.3600 crores.
CBI has already interrogated Chidambaram in December 2014. However the agency did not go further due to the influence of the unholy club in Lutyens’ Delhi. ED and Income Tax has conducted joint raids in December 2015 and unearthed Chidambaram family’s huge properties and investments in 14 countries. The agencies also found 21 secret foreign bank accounts of Karti in several countries.
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My grouse is that such corrupt people like Chidambaram should be taken to task much earlier by the Modi govt. I cannot understand why modi government is too slow .Now three years after we are just talking rather that putting such corrupt inisters & their family in jail.
Better late than never. This is great news and, one hopes, marks yet another step towards “Congress mukt Bharat” which is the dream of many honest and patriotic Indians and which was one of the goals of our PM Modi before the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.
It is important that these self important people The wolf in sheep’s clothing like PC nad the wolves like Lalu should be disgraced and sent to jail.
Time for CBI to act now. PM should give a stern direction to CBI to act.