Allegations against PC baseless: Govt

The government on Saturday rejected Janata Party president Subramanian Swamy’s allegations against home minister P Chidambaram in the Aircel-Maxis equity issue, terming them “totally baseless”.

The government on Saturday rejected Janata Party president Subramanian Swamy’s allegations against home minister P Chidambaram in the Aircel-Maxis equity issue, terming them “totally baseless”.

According to a government release, a perusal of the records of the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) on the issue revealed “that there was no delay whatsoever. It is unfortunate that baseless allegations should be made without verifying the facts”.

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The government statement came two days after Swamy accused Chidambaram, then finance minister, of delaying permission for the sale of Aircel to Malaysia-based Maxis in 2006.

Opposition parties had disrupted Lok Sabha proceedings on Friday, demanding Chidambaram’s resignation.

The statement said the application was processed in the normal course of time.

The proposal was included in the agenda notes circulated on February 17, 2006. On March 7, 2006, the matter was placed before a meeting of the FIPB.

The FIPB recommended the proposal for approval on the same day and the file was moved by the deputy secretary on March 10, the statement said.