Karti moves Delhi HC seeking relief in INX Media case

New Delhi: Karti Chidambaram, son of senior Congress leader P Chidambaram, today moved the Delhi High Court seeking quashing of summons and all proceedings initiated by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in the INX Media money laundering case. The matter was mentioned in-chamber before Justice S Ravindra Bhat who listed it for hearing tomorrow.

Karti Chidambaram, who is presently in CBI custody in the INX Media case, moved the high court in pursuance of the Supreme Court direction passed earlier in the day. The Supreme Court had also allowed him to withdraw his plea pending with the apex court related to the money laundering case.

Karti Chidambaram had approached the apex court seeking directions to declare that the ED has no jurisdiction to conduct any investigation unrelated to the allegations in the FIR lodged by the CBI on May 15, 2017.

He had also sought the quashing of summons and all the proceedings initiated by the ED, terming it “unreasonable, without jurisdiction, without authority of law, in colourable exercise of power and vitiated by malafides”.

Karti Chidambaram was arrested on February 28 at the Chennai airport on his return from the UK, in connection with the FIR lodged on May 15 last year alleging irregularities in the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) clearance to INX Media for receiving overseas funds to the tune of about Rs 305 crore in 2007 when his father was the Union finance minister.

The CBI has alleged that Karti Chidambaram received Rs 10 lakh as bribe for the FIPB clearance. The apex court had on February 23 refused to stay the summons issued by the ED against Karti Chidambaram.

The ED had registered a case against him and others in May last year. It had registered an enforcement case investigation report (ECIR), against the accused named in the CBI complaint. These accused included Karti Chidambaram, INX Media and its directors, Peter and Indrani Mukerjea.