The Enforcement Department has filed a chargesheet online against former Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram, his son Karti Chidambaram and others in connection with the INX Media money laundering case, the Hindustan Times reported on Wednesday.
The e-chargesheet, which was filed on Monday before the court of special CBI judge Ajay Kumar, will have to be backed up by a hard copy once the coronavirus-induced lockdown is lifted, according to NDTV. Both Chidambaram and his son are currently out on bail. “I will not comment until something is served to me formally,” Karti Chidambaram said.
The Enforcement Directorate had filed the money laundering case against P Chidambaram’s son Karti Chidambaram, INX Media, and the company’s owners Indrani and Peter Mukerjea in May 2017. The agency alleges that during his tenure as the finance minister, Chidambaram had facilitated a huge transfusion of foreign funds to INX Media. His son Karti Chidambaram had received kickbacks for the deal, according to investigators.
In December, the Supreme Court granted Chidambaram bail in the case that the Enforcement Directorate had filed, after he had spent 74 days in jail. The former Union minister had moved the top court after the Delhi High Court had rejected his bail plea on November 15. The bail was granted on a personal bond of Rs 2 lakh with two sureties of like amounts.
Earlier, the Delhi High Court had denied Chidambaram bail on the grounds that the allegations were serious in nature and that he seemed to have “played an active role” in the alleged crime. However, the court had noted that its observations were not final.
The Chidambarams are also facing investigations by the Central Bureau of Investigation. The agency claimed there were irregularities in the foreign direct investment clearance granted to INX Media by the Foreign Investment Promotion Board in 2007. P Chidambaram was the finance minister at the time. The agency has submitted purported emails between INX Media and a company belonging to Karti Chidambaram, claiming that these emails will “prove offences committed”.
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