September 22, 2025

Drama unfolds in Delhi's special court as the CBI wastes no time and has summoned Malaysian telecom giant Maxis, its former honcho Augustus Ralph Marshall, and the company Astro All Asia Network in a sizzling FIPB clearance investigation. This case bursts at the seams with intrigue, tied to the 2006 Aircel takeover during P Chidambaram's stint as finance minister. The CBI is pushing hard to serve summons to their Malaysian counterparts but has asked the court for three months to do so. Earlier, charges against former Telecom Minister Dayanidhi Maran were dismissed but the probe rolls on—the charge sheet against P Chidambaram and others still awaits trial. What’s at stake? The spotlight is on how Maxis' fully-owned shell, Global Communication Services Holdings Ltd, got the green signal to hike foreign shareholding in Aircel from 26% to a whopping 73.99%! This deal was worth a cool USD 800 million or Rs 3,560 crore. According to the CBI, the clearances were dodged by showing only Rs 180 crore of actual Foreign Direct Investment, keeping the deal within Chidambaram’s approval limit of Rs 600 crore—but the truth was a lot bigger. This sneaky move skirted the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs’ clearance that is mandatory for investments over Rs 600 crore. The probe alleges a juicy quid pro quo: P Chidambaram and his son Karti allegedly received bribes funneled through companies linked to Karti, disguised as payments for legal and management services from Maxis-linked firms. The sum? Rs 26 lakh and Rs 87 lakh – small coins in this big money game. Chidambaram, however, has stayed tight-lipped about the case. Back in 2018, he said on 'X', "CBI has already filed a Chargesheet in the Aircel-Maxis case. ED has now filed a Complaint in the same case. If and when summons is issued by the Honourable Court, the cases will be contested. I will not make any other public comment." Adding fuel, he asserted, "It is the FIPB that decides if a proposal falls within the competence of the FM. FIPB put up the proposal to me and I approved it along with 20 other proposals." The drama in this juicy Aircel saga is far from over. As Maxis and its allies get summoned across borders, the Indian court waits to unravel whether this is a story of crafty finance moves or something more sinister. Stay tuned as this high-stakes game unfolds!

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Tags: Aircel-maxis case, Cbi summons, P chidambaram, Fipb clearance, Maxis, Corruption allegations,