A court in Delhi on Friday extended till August 23 the interim protection from arrest granted to Congress leader P Chidambaram and his son Karti Chidambaram in the Aircel-Maxis case, PTI reported. The two were earlier granted protection from arrest till August 9. Special Judge OP Saini extended the relief and said the court was not available for arguments.

On August 1, Chidambaram had told the court there was no ground to deny them anticipatory bail.

The case pertains to clearances that the Foreign Investment Promotion Board granted the firm Global Communication Holding Services Ltd for investment in telecom company Aircel in 2006. P Chidambaram was the Union finance minister at the time and Karti Chidambaram, who is a parliamentarian at present, allegedly facilitated the payment of bribes in the Aircel-Maxis transaction. The Enforcement Directorate, which is investigating a money laundering angle, is inquiring why Chidambaram approved the investment when only the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs can give green signal for such deals.

In November 2018, the Central Bureau of Investigation had informed the court that P Chidambaram’s prosecution had been sanctioned by the central government.