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INX Media Case: CBI To Quiz P Chidambaram Soon, Say Sources

“We’ve gathered enough evidence on the basis of which he will be questioned,” said the source.

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A senior CBI official has confirmed to The Quint that former finance minister P Chidambaram will be summoned by the agency for questioning in the INX media case. Chidambaram's son Karti Chidambaram has already been arrested by the CBI under the Prevention of Corruption Act for allegedly taking bribe of 1 million US dollar from INX media promoters Indrani and Peter Mukherjea.

The allegation against Karti Chidambaram is that he took a bribe for favouring FIPB (Foreign Investment Promotion Board) clearance of INX media. The clearance was given during P Chidambaram’s tenure as finance minister.

We will summon P Chidambaram soon for questioning. We’ve gathered enough evidence on the basis of which he will be questioned. At this stage, we don’t have to confront Karti with P Chidambaram. 
Senior CBI officer

The CBI got Karti’s custody till 12 March from the Patiala House Court. The CBI informed the court that they need to confront Karti with the documents that the agency seized during the raids on 7-8 March from Advantage Strategic Consulting Pvt Ltd office in Chennai.

The CBI has also moved an application seeking Karti’s CA Bhaskararaman’s custody on the ground that the agency wants to confront both of them. He was earlier arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in the INX media case.

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The CBI officer also said that they are probing a trail of alleged bribe money that was transferred from Karti to his father, P Chidambaram.

It’s not criminal if son transfers money to his father’s bank account. But if the money in question is bribe money then it is. 
Senior CBI officer

According to Enforcement Directorate (ED) sources, under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), if a person transfers bribe money into a particular bank account then the entire balance including the money which was already existing in the account will be considered as bribe money.

Probing More Cases of Chidambaram’s Tenure: CBI Sources

The Quint had earlier reported that the ED had referred more Prevention of Money Laundering (PMLA) cases to the CBI which fell under the tenure of P Chidambaram as the finance minister.

The CBI source has confirmed that the agency is “probing” the cases referred by the ED. It would be too early to say whether a case can be registered on these matters, claimed the CBI source. The officer also refused to share any details on the grounds that the “matter will be leaked” and it will alert those people who are allegedly involved in the cases.

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Indrani and Peter Mukherjea in their statement to the ED had claimed that they met P Chidambaram for the approval of FIPB clearance for INX media. The Mukherjeas were allegedly asked to meet Karti by his father. Accordingly, they met him to get their work done. And later Mukherjea allegedly paid a bribe of 1 million US dollars to Karti’s companies based abroad.

The CBI in its FIR claimed that invoices worth approximately Rs 3.5 crore were raised by Advantage Strategic Consulting Pvt Ltd (ASCPL) in favour of INX media. Till now the agency says it has got records that INX media had made a payment of Rs 10 Lakh to (ASCPL) “towards FIPB clearance and notification.”

On the other hand, the ED has claimed the seizure of four invoices from ASCPL worth approx Rs 3.1 crore raised in favour of INX media.

But both the agencies haven’t yet clarified whether they have been able to crack the entire alleged bribe money trail of Rs 3.5 crore.

Published: 
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