The Supreme Court on Monday allowed former Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram’s son Karti Chidambaram to travel to the United Kingdom, France and the United States between July 23 and July 31, subject to certain conditions, PTI reported. The top court asked Karti Chidambaram to surrender his passport to the Enforcement Directorate upon his return.
Karti Chidambaram had sought permission to travel abroad for personal reasons. The court allowed the plea of Additional Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, who said the conditions imposed in the court’s earlier orders allowing Karti Chidambaram to travel abroad should remain in force.
The Enforcement Directorate is currently investigating Karti Chidambaram in a money-laundering case. His company had allegedly received Rs 10 lakh from INX Media, apparently to help it escape punishment, after the media company was found to have taken Rs 305 crore in foreign funding even though it had received clearance from the Foreign Exchange Promotion Board for only Rs 4 crore.
Karti Chidambaram, along with his father, has also been named in the Central Bureau of Investigation’s chargesheet in connection with the Aircel-Maxis case. The case pertains to clearances that the Foreign Investment Promotion Board granted in 2006 to the firm M/s Global Communication Holding Services Ltd for investment in Aircel. P Chidambaram was the finance minister at the time. Karti Chidambaram allegedly facilitated payment of bribes in the Aircel-Maxis transaction.
In May, the top court had allowed Karti Chidambaram’s petition to travel abroad, warning him that any violation of the conditions may attract adverse consequences. Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices AM Khanwilkar and DY Chandrachud had asked him to file an undertaking about his flight schedule and return date to India. The bench also asked him not to open or close any overseas bank accounts and not to enter into any property transaction abroad.
Anticipatory bail granted to P Chidambaram in Aircel-Maxis case
Meanwhile, on Monday a court in Delhi’s Patiala House Courts complex granted anticipatory bail to P Chidambaram in the Aircel-Maxis case till August 7. The former minister has also moved an anticipatory bail petition in the Delhi High Court in the INX Media case. The High Court posted the matter for hearing on Tuesday.
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