New Delhi (TIP): The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has received prosecution sanction against senior Congress leader and former Union finance minister P Chidambaram in two separate money laundering cases related to the Aircel-Maxis and INX Media deals, the agency said on Thursday, Feb 26, adding it has submitted the sanction before a court to expedite the trial.
Both the Aircel-Maxis and INX Media deals took place during the Congress-led UPA regime, when Chidambaram was the finance minister. ED filed a charge sheet in the Aircel-Maxis case in 2018 and in the INX Media case in 2020, naming the senior Congress leader in both of them. The court took cognisance of the charge sheets in 2021.
The trial in both the cases was stayed by courts for lack of prosecution sanction under section 197 (1) of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) — now Section 218 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS).
Through a November 2024 ruling, the Supreme Court mandated ED to also take prior sanction under the provision for any court to take cognisance of the charge sheet. The provision was earlier only applicable to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). After multiple appeals were filed by accused persons, the ED said, it has been proactively seeking prosecution sanctions for public servants . Consequently, sanction for the prosecution of Chidambaram was sought in both cases. It was obtained from the competent authority on February 10, ED added.
The prosecution sanction order has been placed before the special court, Rouse Avenue by ED to expedite the trial in both the cases, the agency said.
In the Aircel-Maxis deal, Chidambaram was named as accused number 6 while in the INX Media probe, he was arraigned as accused no 1.
ED alleged that the former finance minister granted foreign investment promotion board (FIPB) approval to Aircel-Maxis in lieu of quid pro quo as foreign investor (Maxis) applied for its foreign direct investment (FDI) approval to the tune of $800 million ( Rs 3,565.91 crore). The competent authority for this approval was the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA).
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