The Supreme Court on Monday, 22 February, permitted Karti Chidambaram to travel abroad conditional to him depositing Rs 2 crores and submitting his detailed itinerary prior to his travel.
Karti Chidambaram is facing criminal charges and is being probed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), as well as the CBI, in connection with the INX Media money laundering case.
The permission granted by Justices Ashok Bhushan and R Subhash Reddy is applicable for a period of six months, reported Live Law.
Meanwhile, the Enforcement Directorate had opposed the deposit amount of Rs 2 crore, saying that another court had directed him to deposit Rs 10 crore and requesting for the same amount to be continued.
However, Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing on behalf of Karti, had said: “He is an MP. He is not going to run away.”
Sibal had also re-iterated, that, as per the Menaka Gandhi case, travel is a fundamental right.
While being granted bail, the Court had restrained Karti from leaving the country without the Court’s permission, reported Live Law.
BACKGROUND
The Enforcement Directorate had filed a charge sheet against former Union Minister and senior Congress leader P Chidambaram in the INX Media money laundering case, reported PTI on Tuesday, 2 June 2020.
The CBI had registered a case alleging irregularities in a Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) clearance granted to the INX Media group for receiving overseas funds of Rs 305 crore in 2007, during P Chidambaram's tenure as finance minister. The ED had then lodged the money-laundering case in connection with the same.
(With inputs from Live Law.)
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)