Former Union Finance Minister P. Chidambaram said on Tuesday he had granted approval to the Aircel-Maxis deal “in the normal course of business.”
In a statement, Mr. Chidambaram said, “In the Aircel-Maxis case, taking into account the face value of the foreign investment, the FIPB [Foreign Investment Promotion Board] submitted the case to the Finance Minister and sought approval. As FM, I granted approval in the normal course of business.”
The former Finance Minister’s response comes a day after the Supreme Court asked the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to file a status report on the investigations into the deal.
Swamy’s contention
During the brief hearing on Monday, BJP leader Subramanian Swamy told the court that the CBI had responded to him, stating that it was examining “all angles” of the case, including the FIPB clearance given by Mr. Chidambaram in 2006.
In his application, Dr. Swamy had alleged that Mr. Chidambaram had illegally granted FIPB clearance to the deal. According to the BJP leader, Mr. Chidambaram gave FIPB clearance to a deal that should have been referred to the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA), headed by the Prime Minister, as it alone was empowered to clear foreign investments of over ₹600 crore. “The money transaction involved in the process was around ₹3,500 crore,” he had said.
Responding to this allegation, Mr. Chidambaram said the FIPB — that consists of five Secretaries who examine cases and recommend approval or rejection — “apply the rules/guidelines” and submit each case to the CCEA or the Finance Minister depending upon the value of the investment.
“The CBI has recorded the statements from every official who dealt with the case. Everyone, including the then Secretary and Additional Secretary, has affirmed that the case was rightly submitted to the Finance Minister, who was the competent authority to grant approval and that the approval was granted in the normal course of business,” Mr. Chidambaram said in the statement.
