A Delhi court Friday extended till February 1 interim protection from arrest to former Union minister P Chidambaram and his son Karti from arrest in the Aircel-Maxis scam.

Special CBI Judge O P Saini put up the matter for February 1 after Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the CBI, told the court that the ongoing probe was about to be completed.

The case relates to alleged irregularities in grant of FIPB approval in the Aircel-Maxis deal. There are 18 accused in the case. Besides Chidambaram, sanction is required for the prosecution of five public servants. The father and the son had recently denied the allegations of both the agencies that they were evasive and non-cooperative during the probe in the case. They said the allegations against them were “unsubstantiated” and there was no need of their custodial interrogation.

The CBI and the ED, in their replies to the anticipatory bail pleas of Chidambarams, had alleged that they were not cooperating in the investigation.

P Chidambaram had filed his anticipatory bail application in May this year. His protection from arrest had been extended from time to time.

The senior Congress leader and his son came under the scanner of investigating agencies in the Rs 3,500-crore Aircel-Maxis deal and the INX Media case involving Rs 305 crore.

The ED is also probing a separate money-laundering case in the Aircel-Maxis matter, in which P Chidambaram and Karti have been questioned by the agency and currently their anticipatory bail is pending.

—India Legal Bureau