Court grants anticipatory bail to P Chidambaram and son

New Delhi: A Delhi court on Thursday granted anticipatory bail to former Finance Minister P. Chidambaram and his son Karti Chidambaram in both the ED and the CBI matters relating to the Aircel Maxis case.

District and Sessions Judge O.P. Saini, while granting the relief to the father-son duo, directed the applicants to furnish a personal bail bond of Rs 1 lakh each along with the surety of a like amount.

"Considering the distance of time between the commission of the alleged crime and the filing of the instant applications, unexplained delay in the investigation, there being no possibility of the accused tampering with the evidence or threatening any witness or fleeing from justice...I am satisfied that it is a fit case for grant of anticipatory bail," the court observed in its order.

The court said, "Since the investigation is still pending, the accused shall join the investigation as and when called by the investigating officer (IO)."

The court has also directed the father-son duo to not leave the country without prior permission of the court. "They shall not contact, threaten or influence any witness and tamper with the evidence in any manner," the court ruled.

The case relates to the alleged irregularities in granting Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) approval in the Aircel-Maxis deal in 2006 when Chidambaram was the Union Finance Minister.

According to the rules and the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) policy, Chidambaram was only empowered to give approval to the proposals involving foreign investments of up to Rs 600 crore.