New Delhi, April 26: Janata Party chief Subramanian Swamy today levelled fresh corruption charges against home minister P. Chidambaram, alleging that he had misused his position to help his son Karti benefit from the Aircel-Maxis deal in 2006 when he was the finance minister.
In a letter to the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on April 24, Swamy has sought resignation of Chidambaram and also requested him to direct the CBI to include the names of the home minister and his son in the FIR on the Aircel-Maxis deal along with former telecom minister Dayanidhi Maran.
The CBI has already registered an FIR against Maran who was Raja’s predecessor, over his alleged role in the 2G spectrum scam. Maran, DMK chief Karunanidhi’s nephew, was forced to quit the Manmohan Singh government in July last year after the allegations came to light.
According to CBI officials, Maran allegedly forced Sivasankaran, former Aircel chief, to sell his stake to T. Anandakrishnan’s Maxis. The agency accused Maran of sitting on Aircel’s licence application till Sivasankaran gave in as there was deliberate and undue delay in issuance of the letter of intent to Aircel by the telecom department and the then (telecom) minister.
In a press conference today, Swamy, who circulated his letter to the Prime Minister alleged that Chidambaram had delayed permission for the sale of Aircel to Malaysia-based Maxis in 2006 when he was finance minister to ensure that his son Karti, who floated several companies, was financially benefited.
“There was a dubious transaction between a firm controlled by Karti and Aircel in March 2006, just before Maxis investment of Rs 4,000 crore. Chidambaram had ensured that Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) clearance on Aircel-Maxis deal be given only after Karti-controlled company got share in the Aircel,” he alleged.
In February, the 2G trial court dismissed Swamy’s plea seeking to implead Chidambaram as a co-accused in the case, and gave clean chit to the home minister. Challenging the order the Janata Party chief has filed an appeal in the Supreme Court.
