New Delhi, July 10 : A special court here on Tuesday extended till August 7 the interim protection from arrest granted to senior Congress leader P. Chidambaram in the Aircel-Maxis deal case.
Special Judge O.P. Saini directed Chidambaram to join the investigation whenever required.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) had opposed the decision, saying the former Finance Minister and his son were evasive in their replies and as such ED would not be able to get to the truth if they were granted bail
ED pleaded that it is doing the investigation under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act to unearth the larger conspiracy involved in the approval given by the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) for the Aircel-Maxis deal.
On May 30, the court granted interim protection to P. Chidambaram till June 5 which was leter extended till July 10.
Earlier, the court had granted interim protection to Karti Chidambaram from arrest till July 10 in the same case.
The Central Bureau of Investigation and the ED are investigating how Karti Chidambaram allegedly managed to get clearance from the FIPB for the Aircel-Maxis deal when P. Chidambaram was the Finance Minister in 2006.
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Guwahati (PTI): Polling for all 126 Assam assembly constituencies began on Thursday to decide the electoral fate of 722 candidates, officials said.
In the high-stakes election, the ruling BJP is aiming for a third consecutive term in office, while the Congress seeks to wrest power after being ousted in 2016.
Polling, being held in a single phase, began at 7 am and will conclude at 5 pm. Long queues of voters were seen outside polling stations from early morning.
An electorate of 2.50 crore, including 1.25 crore women and 318 from the third gender, can exercise their franchise in 31,490 polling stations across the state.
Prominent candidates include Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, Congress state president Gaurav Gogoi, assembly Speaker Biswajit Daimary, Leader of the opposition Debabrata Saikia, AIUDF chief Badruddin Ajmal, Raijor Dal president Akhil Gogoi, and Assam Jatiya Parishad (AJP) chief Lurinjyoti Gogoi.
Several cabinet ministers, including the AGP’s Atul Bora and Keshav Mahanta, and the BPF’s Charan Boro are also in the fray.
The Congress has the highest of 99 contestants, followed by the BJP (90), AIUDF (30), NDA allies AGP (26) and BPF (11).
Opposition alliance’s Raijor Dal is contesting in 13, AJP in 10, CPI(M) in 3 and APHLC in 2. Outside the two coalitions, the AAP is contesting in 18 seats, UPPL in 18, TMC 22, JMM 16 and there are 258 independents.
The ruling NDA’s main constituents are the BJP, Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) and the Bodo Peoples’ Front (BPF) while the opposition alliance comprises the Congress, Raijor Dal, Assam Jatiya Parishad (AJP), CPI(M), All Party Hill Leaders Conference (APHLC) and CPI(ML).
The counting of votes is scheduled on May 4.
