The Enforcement Directorate on Tuesday recorded the statement of former Finance Minister P. Chidambaram in connection with the Aircel-Maxis money laundering case.
The former Finance Minister later tweeted that the questions related to what was already in the file and, therefore, the answers too were what were in the file. He said more than half the time was taken up in typing the answers without errors and reading and signing them. He reiterated that there was no FIR, no offence alleged and yet there was an investigation
Mr. Chidambaram, accompanied by a lawyer, reached the agency’s office around 11 a.m. in the wake of a fresh summons seeking his personal appearance. He was questioned for about five hours.
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The agency, which earlier quizzed Mr. Chidambaram’s son Karti in the case, is probing suspected irregularities in the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) clearance given in 2006 for investments to the tune of ₹3,500 crore by Global Communication Holding Services Limited in Aircel. Mr. Chidambaram was then the Union Finance Minister.
The ED had recorded the statements of the then FIPB officials, which were used to frame questions for Mr. Chidambaram.
On March 12, the Supreme Court had directed the Central Bureau of Investigation and the Directorate to conclude the probe into all the 2G spectrum cases, including the Aircel-Maxis case, within six months.
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While Mr. Chidambaram has on several occasions said that all the accused in the case had already been discharged by the Special CBI court and the charge-sheet quashed, the agencies maintain that the FIR in the matter still stands and that further investigations are under way.