New Delhi: In a setback to former Union minister P. Chidambaram, the CBI on Monday told a court that the Centre has granted sanction for prosecution of the senior Congress leader in the Aircel-Maxis case.
It further said: “In view of the facts and circumstances stated above, it is most humbly and respectfully prayed that the prosecution sanction received from the competent authority in the central government in respect of accused P. Chidambaram may kindly be taken on record and a further time may be given to file sanction for prosecution in respect of remaining accused public servants.”
The father-son duo recently denied the allegations of both the agencies that they were evasive and non-cooperative during the probe in the case, and said the allegations against them were “unsubstantiated” and there was no need of their custodial interrogation.
The CBI and ED, in their replies to the anticipatory bail pleas of Chidambarams, alleged that they were not cooperating in the investigations. The submissions were made in their rejoinder, filed by advocates P K Dubey and Arshdeep Singh, in response to the replies of the probe agencies.
On behalf of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a related money laundering case, Mehta orally told the court that the accused “misled the agency and made false statement. He suppressed information about the bank accounts in other countries and the money received from various sources.”
“Custodial interrogation is required since various new materials have surfaced after filing of the charge sheet,” the ED, also represented by special public prosecutors N K Matta and Nitesh Rana, said.
Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for Chidambaram, requested the court to extend the protection of the former union minister, as well as his son and co-accused Karti in the both the cases filed by the CBI as well as the ED.
