New Delhi. The Delhi High Court on Wednesday stayed legal proceedings against senior Congress leader P Chidambaram in the Aircel-Maxis case registered by the Enforcement Directorate. The top court also issued notice to the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and sought its response on Chidambaram’s plea challenging the trial court’s order taking cognizance of the chargesheet filed by the agency against him and his son Karti in a case of money laundering.
Justice Manoj Kumar Ohri said a notice has been issued. The proceedings against the petitioner will be postponed until the next hearing. The case will be heard on January 22. He said he would give detailed orders later.
Senior advocate N Hariharan and advocates Arshdeep Singh Khurana and Akshat Gupta, appearing for Chidambaram, argued that the special judge took cognizance of the chargesheet for the alleged offense of money laundering in the absence of any sanction to prosecute the former minister of the Union. public servant at the time of the alleged crime.
The ED lawyer initially raised objections to the admissibility of the petition and said that no sanction was required for prosecution in the case as the charges related to Chidambaram’s actions which had nothing to do with his official duties. As an interim measure, Chidambaram also sought stay of proceedings before the trial court. The trial court took cognizance of the chargesheets filed by the CBI and ED against Chidambaram and Karti in the Aircel-Maxis case on November 27, 2021 and cited them at a later date.
Chidambaram’s lawyer said it is mandatory to obtain sanction for prosecution under Section 197 (1) of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) and the ED has not obtained sanction till date to prosecute the Congress leader. The lawyer said that the process is currently set before the lower court for consideration of the charges.
According to the counsel, the protection under Section 197(1) CrPC extends to the petitioner in the matter at hand and the Special Judge had invoked Section 3 read with Section 4 of the PMLA against the petitioner under Section 197(1). CrPC without obtaining prior approval. of the ED He made a mistake when he became aware of the low crime.
Therefore, the order that recognizes the crimes mentioned in the tax complaint of June 13, 2018 and October 25, 2018 deserves to be annulled solely for this reason and it deserves to be dismissed for the petitioner, the brief reads. .
According to Section 197(1) of the CrPC, when any person who is or has been a Judge, Magistrate or public servant, who cannot be removed from office without the sanction of the Government, is charged with an offense punishable by taking knowledge of such crime unless it is related to the performance of his official duty.
Taking cognizance of the chargesheet, the special judge said there was enough evidence to summon Chidambaram and other accused in the corruption and money laundering cases registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the ED. The cases relate to alleged irregularities in the granting of Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) approval to the Aircel-Maxis deal. This approval was given in 2006, when Chidambaram was Union Finance Minister. The CBI and ED have alleged that Chidambaram, as Finance Minister, exceeded his capacity and approved the deal, which benefited some people and accepted bribes.
