No response of UK, Singapore received on letters issued: ED informs court in Aircel Maxis case

The Enforcement Directorate on Monday informed the special Court that no response has yet been received from the concerned authorities of the United Kingdom (UK) and Singapore to the Letter Rogatory (LR) issued in Aircel Maxis matter involving former Union finance minister P Chidambaram and others.

ED through its Special Public Prosecutor informed that despite the issuance of a reminder dated January 7 by the Directorate of Enforcement (DoE) after the previous date, no response has yet been received from the concerned Authorities of the United Kingdom (UK) and Singapore to the Letter Rogatory (LR) issued.

An ED release said that LRs were also earlier got issued to the concerned authorities of Malaysia and Mauritius and though the Mauritian Authorities had provided certain documents/evidence which is still being examined, but the Malaysian authorities had refused to provide the requisite information.

Special Public P prosecutor on Monday also submitted that a gazette notification from the Ministry of Finance in favour of the undersigned by name may also be required for dealing with the proceedings and trial of these matters for offences of Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 and also the matter relating thereto 2G Spectrum scam, as the same were issued in name of the predecessors of this court.

ED also submitted that the Directorate will take up the matter with the concerned ministry for issuance of the said notification at the earliest.

It also submitted that they may be given at least one month time as the formalities for the issuance of the notification may take some time.

After the submission, Special Judge MK Malhotra posted the matter for February 26, through video conferencing.

Earlier, the court had granted the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) time till February 1 to complete the probe in the matter. The matter is pending before the court at the point of argument on cognizance on chargesheet which was filed by the agencies in the matter.

Former Union Minister P Chidambaram and son Karti Chidambaram are currently out on bail in the present matter.

Predecessor Judge OP Saini, while passing the judgment, had observed that the entire evidence related to the commission of the crime by the two accused was documentary in nature and is not liable to be tampered with by both accused.

The case, which is being probed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and ED, relates to alleged irregularities in grant of Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) approval in the Aircel-Maxis deal. The FIPB approval was allegedly granted in 2006 when Chidambaram was the Union finance minister.

( With inputs from ANI )