india

Updated: Oct 11, 2019 06:03 IST

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday moved the Delhi high court challenging the pre-arrest bail granted by a trial court to former Union minister P Chidambaram and his son Karti in connection with their alleged role in the Aircel Maxis case.

The case pertains to alleged irregularities in grant of Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) approval in the Rs 3,500-crore Aircel-Maxis deal when Chidambaram was finance minister.

In its plea filed through advocate Amit Mahajan, the ED, that is investigating the money laundering angle in the Aircel-Maxis matter, stated that the trial court judge had erred in granting the anticipatory bail as the proceeds of the crime was deposited in shell companies in which Chidambaram and his son were direct or indirect beneficiaries.

Chidambaram, 74, is currently lodged in jail after being arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on August 21 in the INX Media corruption case.

Reacting to this, Karti Chidambaram said that whenever the court serves them a notice, they will respond to it.

On September 5, special judge OP Saini had granted anticipatory bail to Chidambaram and his son in the case stating that the charges against them were not of grave magnitude as the money allegedly laundered is a “paltry amount” of Rs 1.13 crore compared to the money purportedly received by accused already discharged in the cases.