The Central Bureau of Investigation on Monday told the Supreme Court that it is investigating former finance minister P Chidambaram's role in the 2G scam case and that it needed a month's time to file its report in this regard.
During the course of hearing the petitioner alleged that the CBI was taking too long to probe into the case. The apex court observed that the report ought to have been ready by now, but the CBI took too long. It has been so long, but the CBI seems to have just started, it said.
Meanwhile, the Enforcement Directorate has filed a status report in the apex court in the Aircel-Maxis case. On an earlier occasion, the ED had moved the SC against the discharge order passed against the Maran brothers. The SC had, however, refused to stay the order of the trial court.
The Enforcement Directorate filed a status report over FIPB (Foreign Investment Promotion Board) violation and mentioned alleged role of Congress leader and former minister P Chidambaram.
Further hearing on the matter has been fixed for 2 May.
Earlier the Delhi High Court had refused to interfere in the Aircel-Maxis case as the matter is pending before a special court set up by the Supreme Court.
A bench of Chief Justice G Rohini and Justice Sangita Dhingra Sehgal declined to entertain a PIL seeking directions to the CBI to move the trial court for “attachment and forfeiture of shares and all the assets of Aircel Ltd”, as held by Maxis and its subsidiaries.
The top court had in February asked BJP leader Subramanian Swamy to place before it concrete evidence backing his plea for probe into the role of then Finance Minister Chidambaram into alleged breach of norms committed by the FIPB in approving the Aircel-Maxis deal in 2006.
Swamy had referred to the CAG report which has pointed to two alleged illegalities in the grant of approval to Aircel-Maxis deal by the FIPB. According to Swamy, the CAG in its 2015 report pointed to two illegalities in the grant of approval by FIPB involving Maxis acquiring 93.3 per cent stake in the Aircel Tele Ventures Ltd through its 'wos' the GCSHL.
This, Swamy said, was in excess of the then ceiling of 74 per cent investment by a foreign entity in the Indian telecom company. The second illegality, Swamy said, was that since the foreign investment in Aircel was more than Rs.600 crore it should have gone to the Cabinet Committee for Economic Affairs for approval but it was instead cleared by the FIPB.