A Delhi court on Monday sent former media baron Peter Mukerjea to the custody of the Central Bureau of Investigation till March 31 in the INX Media money laundering case, PTI reported. The CBI had sought five-day-custody of Mukerjea – currently in jail for the murder of his step-daughter Sheena Bora – for questioning.
The Mukerjea-owned INX Media Limited is accused of paying bribes to get foreign investment approvals from the Foreign Investment Promotion Board which was allegedly facilitated by former finance minister P Chidambaram’s son Karti Chidambaram.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court on Monday extended the interim protection of Karti Chidambaram in connection with the case till April 2, ANI reported. On Friday, the Delhi High Court had granted bail to Karti Chidambaram in the case, on a surety of Rs 10 lakh.
The Enforcement Directorate has claimed that the Peter Mukerjea and his wife Indrani Mukerjea, co-founders of INX Media, allegedly took £90 million (around Rs 773 crore) from the company out of India through hawala channels. It has accused Peter Mukerjea of conspiring with Finance Ministry officials in 2007 to secure clearances to access foreign funds. INX Media allegedly received Rs 3,004.4 million as foreign exchange beyond the disclosed amount permitted.
The CBI had Karti Chidambaram arrested him on February 28 for allegedly not cooperating in its investigation.
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