INX money-laundering: Karti gets bail after 13-days in Tihar Jail
Karti Chidambaram, son of former Finance Minister P Chidamabaram, is out on bail in the INX money laundering case after 13 days in Tihar Jail. The CBI had opposed relief, arguing the "influential" person had already destroyed evidence in the case. But Karti's lawyer denied the allegations, asking why he was put in jail when the CBI hadn't sought further custodial interrogation.
According to the CBI's FIR, INX was approved by the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) for investment of Rs. 4.62cr, but actually received Rs. 305cr by sale of shares. When I-T launched a probe, INX allegedly took the help of Karti's companies "to get the issues resolved" by influencing FIPB officials. FIPB was under the Finance Ministry, then headed by P Chidambaram.
In May 2017, the ED had registered an Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR), an equivalent of a police FIR, against Karti, INX Media and its former directors Peter and Indrani Mukerjea. Karti was accused of criminal conspiracy, cheating, seeking to influence a public servant, and criminal misconduct. He has "categorically denied" any wrongdoings, but reportedly has been detaching himself from suspicious properties/accounts.
On February 28, the CBI arrested Karti from the Chennai airport soon after he landed from London. In the meantime, he was taken to Mumbai and confronted with both Indrani and Peter, who are in prison in the Sheena Bora murder case. CBI claimed he remained "evasive" and "non-cooperative" during interrogation, and argued against alloting him a separate cell.
Karti's lawyer argued no one else had been arrested, and no case under the Prevention of Corruption Act had been made out against Karti either. He wasn't related to Advantage Strategic Consulting Pvt Ltd, a private firm allegedly involved in the money-laundering case, they claimed. The Delhi HC had on March 9 directed ED not to take action against Karti. Today, it granted him bail.
