Aircel-Maxis: CBI's status report in SC on probe against PC

New Delhi: CBI Wednesday placed before the Supreme Court a fresh status report on the progress of its probe into the 2G spectrum allocation scam cases by covering in its ambit the investigation concerning former Finance Minister P Chidambaram in the Aircel-Maxis deal case.

The CBI, in its charge sheet filed last year, had said it will investigate the circumstances under which the FIPB approval given in 2006 by the then Finance Minister in the Aircel-Maxis deal in which ex-Telecom Minister Dayanidhi Maran and his brother Kalanidhi Maran have been chargesheeted.

"We are filing the status report in four sealed covers which include the investigation concerning P Chidambaram," senior advocate K K Venugopal submitted before a bench comprising Chief Justice H L Dattu and Arun Mishra.

Venugopal's submission came on behalf of CBI after senior BJP leader Subramanian Swamy complained that the chargesheet in the Aircel-Maxis deal was filed a year ago but nothing was coming out about the probe into the FIPB (Foreign Investment Promotion Board) clearance given to the venture when Chidambaram was the Finance Minister.

Swamy submitted that because of some reasons, the probes by CBI and the ED into the Aircel-Maxis deal have been stuck and were not moving further. Nothing is known about the status reports filed in sealed cover earlier relating to the case, he contended.

He said that Chidambaram was interrogated by the CBI in December last year and thereafter nothing has happened and the CAG report has supported the allegations against him.

The agency in its chargesheet submitted in the Special Court had said that Mauritius-based M/s Global Communication Services Holdings Ltd, a subsidiary of Maxis, had sought approval for USD 800 million for which Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) was competent to do so.

"However, the approval was granted by the then Finance Minister. Further investigation is being carried out into the circumstances of the said FIPB approval granted by the then Finance Minister. The related issues are also being investigated," the chargesheet in the Aircel-Maxis case said.

The agency had said the Finance Minister was competent to accord approval on project proposals of upto Rs 600 crore and proposals beyond this required the approval of CCEA.

"In the instant case, the approval of FDI of 800 million USD was sought. Hence, CCEA was competent to grant approval. However, it was not obtained," it claimed.

However, after the charge sheet was filed, sources who were in the know of developments in the matter at that time said that the FIPB sought only the approval of the minister and not the CCEA as it was not required under the rules then.

Besides, Maran brothers, CBI has named six others in the charge sheet which included Malaysian business tycoon T Ananda Krishnan, Malaysian national Ralph Marshall and four firms, including Sun Direct TV Pvt Ltd and Malaysia's Maxis Communication Berhad, as accused in the case.

It was alleged that Dayanidhi Maran, during his tenure as Telecom Minister from February 2004 to May 2007, had abused his official position and showed undue favour to Ananda Krishnan-owned company in lieu of which the business tycoon bought equity subscription shares of Sun Direct TV Pvt Ltd and accused firm South Asia Entertainment Holding Ltd, which were managed by the Marans.

One of the four companies chargesheeted by CBI is ASTRO All Asia Network PLC.

CBI, in the Supreme Court, had alleged that Maran had "forced" Chennai-based telecom promoter C Sivasankaran to sell the stake in Aircel to Malaysian firm Maxis Group in 2006 owned by Ananda Krishnan.