Aircel-Maxis case: Delhi court grants anticipatory bail to Karti Chidambaram, next hearing set for 16 April

A Delhi special court granted anticipatory bail to Karti Chidambaram in the Aircel-Maxis case, and instructed him to appear before the investigating officer whenever summoned, ANI reported on Saturday. The date of the next hearing was set as 16 April, ANI reported. The court gave three weeks to Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Enforcement Directorate (ED) to file replies on Karti’s anticipatory bail applications. Special judge OP Saini reserved the order for later in the day after hearing a battery of senior advocates who appeared for Karti, son of former Union minister P Chidambaram. [caption id=“attachment_4403975” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File image of Karti Chidambaram. PTI[/caption] During the hour-long hearing, senior lawyer Kapil Sibal sought anticipatory bail for Karti in the Aircel-Maxis cases lodged by the CBI and ED. Arguing in the CBI case on Saturday, Sibal said there was neither any allegation against Karti in the Aircel-Maxis case nor was there anything to show that he knew the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) officials. In the ED case, senior advocate Gopal Subramaniam, also appearing for Karti, argued that his client cooperated in the other matters and that he would not flee from the county or tamper with evidence. However, both investigating agencies sought three weeks’ time to file a detailed reply on the anticipatory bail plea and said Karti should not be granted any interim protection till then. Besides Sibal and Subramanium, the team of lawyers for Karti included senior advocates Salman Khurshid and Mohit Mathur. Karti’s father and former finance minister P Chidambaram and his wife Nalini were also present in the court wearing black gowns. On Friday,  Karti was granted bail by the Delhi High Court  in the INX media case. Hours after being granted bail in the INX media case, Karti filed a plea seeking protection of arrest in the Aircel-Maxis matter, in which the CBI and the ED lodged cases in 2011 and 2012 respectively. The matter pertains to grant of FIPB clearance to firm M/S Global Communication Holding Services Ltd for investment in Aircel. With inputs from PTI