A Delhi court on Monday, 21 October, took cognisance of the CBI charge sheet in the INX media corruption case, which was filed before the court on 18 October.
Former finance minister and Congress leader P Chidambaram will be produced before the court on 24 October, news agency ANI reported.
The charge sheet accused Chidambaram and 13 others including bureaucrats of causing loss to the exchequer by allegedly committing offences under Sections 9, 13(2) and 13 (1D) of the Prevention of Corruption Act and Sections 120B (conspiracy), 420 (cheating), 468 (forgery for purpose of cheating) and 471 (using forged document as genuine) of Indian Penal Code.
The accused named in the charge sheet include Peter Mukherjea, the then director of INX media private limited, chartered accountant S Bhaskaraman, ex-NITI Ayog CEO Sindhushree Khullar, the then joint secretary, foreign trade, economic affairs Anup K Pujari and the then director of Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) unit Prabodh Saxena.
The four companies that are included in the charge sheet are INX Media Private Limited, INX News Private Limited, Chess Management Services Private Limited and Advantage Strategic Consulting Private Limited.
Accused-turned-approver Indrani Mukerjea also appeared in the final report.
She had allegedly revealed the role played by P Chidambaram and his son Karti in approving FDI proposal in lieu of illegal gratification in India and through off-shore payments.
Chidambaram, 74, was arrested by the CBI on 21 August and is lodged in Tihar jail under judicial custody in the corruption case.
BACKGROUND
The case was registered on 15 May 2017 to investigate whether INX Media Pvt Ltd received foreign investment to the tune of Rs 403.07 crore against the approved FDI amount of Rs 4.62 crore only.
Further, the company also illegally invested Rs 40.91 crore in its sister concern company, INX News Pvt Ltd, from the received FDI amount without approval from FIPB in violation of provisions of FEMA.
During investigation it was allegedly found that Indrani Mukherjea and Peter Mukherjea, directors of INX Media Pvt Ltd, entered into a criminal conspiracy with P Chidambaram, his son Karti, the then director of Chess Management Services Pvt Ltd and the then public servants of FIPB unit, causing undue pecuniary advantage to Mukherjea’s companies in terms of possible penalty under FEMA which could have been up to three times of the total amount involved, said the CBI officials.
(With inputs from ANI)
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