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Former Finance Minister P Chidambaram was economical with the truth when he told the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) that he was not aware that Malaysian company Maxis’ investment in Aircel was above Rs 600 crore, when he approved the Foreign Investment Promotion Board’s (FIPB) recommendation on March 7, 2006. Chidambaram stated to this to the CBI when he was questioned on December 6, 2014. Certain senior Finance Ministry officials made similar statements to the probe agency. This writer recently paid a visit to the Parliament library to check newspaper archives in a bid to understand what had been reported in the media during those days about Maxis’ takeover of Aircel. Every major newspaper in India had, on December 31, 2005, reported in a big way that Maxis was going to invest one billion dollars in Aircel. Some newspapers reported the exact value at $I.08 billion in headlines; some even converted the value in rupees (those days, a dollar was equivalent to Rs 45), saying that the foreign investment was Rs 4,700 crore. Business dailies splashed it on the front page and other newspapers reported prominently in their business section. They appeared on the same day after Maxis and Aircel conducted a joint Press conference in Mumbai on December 30, 2005, about the billion-dollar acquisition plan. The photo montage of the main newspapers reports on December 31, 2005 is placed along with this article. Apart from Indian and Malaysian newspapers, international newspapers such as the Financial Times and the Wall Street Journal reported this deal in detail. An Internet search shows that television channels too widely reported the deal. In January and February 2006 too, most newspapers were reporting regularly on the acquisition details and on the file movements at the FIPB. What was the basic illegality in the Aircel-Maxis scam? Those days, the FIPB could approve foreign investments up to Rs 600 crore. As per Rule (Finance Ministry Order dated February 18, 2003), the Finance Minister had to send the proposals above Rs 600 crore to the