Former finance minister P Chidambaram. (PTI file photo)

NEW DELHI: For favouring Maxis by approving its illegal FDI proposal for investment of Rs 3,560 crore in Aircel, former finance minister P Chidambaram had received “quid pro quo” worth Rs 1.13 crore between 2006 and 2012 through the companies directly or indirectly controlled by his son Karti Chidambaram, from the associate companies of Maxis within India and foreign remittances.

In a separate chapter which talks about “quid pro quo” in Aircel-Maxis deal, CBI says in its chargesheet that “upon receipt of FIPB (foreign investment promotion board) approval in March 2006, Global Communication Services Holdings (a company wholly owned by Maxis Communications) enhanced its direct and indirect equity shareholding in the equity capital of M/s Aircel Ld from 26% to 73.999%.”

The chargesheet, exclusively accessed by TOI, says that Advantage Strategic Consulting Pvt Ltd (ASCPL), a company incorporated by S Bhaskararaman, who handles financial matters of family members of Karti Chidambaram, raised an invoice for Rs 27.55 lakh on March 29, 2006 on Aircel for professional charges towards management consultancy services. After deducting TDS (Rs 1.54 lakh), payment of Rs 26 lakh was made through a cheque on April 4, 2006.

Asserting that ASCPL had no skilled professionals for providing consultancy, CBI says “no management consultancy services were rendered by ASCPL to Aircel”. “This payment of Rs 26 lakh is in the nature of quid pro quo for the FIPB approval granted by P Chidambaram as the finance minister on March 13, 2006,” the agency alleges.

Linking Chidambarams as the “beneficial owner” of ASCPL, CBI says that the company used to pay the mobile, credit card and travel bills of Karti.

Talking about the second part of “quid pro quo” received by Chidambarams, CBI chargesheet says that Karti was in touch with Ralph Marshall (a key aide of Maxis’ T Ananda Krishnan). Chess Management Services Pvt Ltd, a company owned by Karti and P Chidambaram’s relative A Palaniappan, received USD dollars 1,94,831 (over Rs 87.60 lakh) through 17 foreign remittances from four associate companies of Maxis group.

The foreign transactions, ranging from 5,000 US dollars to 16,000 US dollars were made by four companies – Bumi Armada, Bumi Armada Navigation, Maxis Mobile and Astro All Asia, between March 2007 and January 2012 in Chess Management.

CBI chargesheet adds that Chess Management received these foreign remittances in the garb of providing electronic legal compliance management (eLCM) services, which company failed to establish as bona fide during CBI probe.

“The foreign remittances received by Chess are in the nature of quid pro quo for the FIPB approval granted by P Chidambaram,” states CBI.

P Chidambaram has consistently denied any wrongdoing in Aircel-Maxis matter. He tweeted on Monday after TOI report that “It is the FIPB that decides if a proposal falls within the competence of the FM. FIPB put up the proposal to me and I approval it along with 20 other proposals.”

