Chinese Visa Case: Karti Chidambaram Gets Interim Relief from Arrest till May 30

GG News Bureau

New Delhi, 26^th May. The Rouse Avenue Court on Thursday granted interim protection from arrest to Congress MP Karti Chidambaram till May 30, 2022 in the Chinese Visa case.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has filed a money laundering case against Karti Chidambaram following a CBI case in the correlated matter.

Special Judge MK Nagpal granted interim protection to Karti Chidambaram while hearing anticipatory bail moved by Karti till May 30, 2022 and also issued notice to the ED.

Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal and Advocate Arshdeep Singh and Advocate Prateek Chadda have appeared for Karti Chidambaram in the matter.

The ED has registered a money laundering case in alleged Chinese visa scam involving Karti Chidambaram, officials informed on Wednesday.

The Enforcement Directorate had filed a case under the criminal Sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, taking cognizance of a recent FIR registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation in the case, said the officials.

Allegedly Karti Chidambaram received illegal gratification of Rs 50 lakh to illegally facilitate visas for 263 Chinese nationals to complete a power project in Punjab.

Karti ‘misused his influence’ in the home ministry in 2011 and ‘conspired’ with co-accused to devise a “back-door way to defeat the purpose of ceiling” on work permits imposed by the ministry, the CBI alleged.

Karti Chidambaram’s father and senior Congress leader P Chidambaram was home minister in 2011.

P Chidambaram has not been named as an accused in the FIR.

Besides Karti Chidambaram, four others have been charged by the CBI. The four co-accused are Karti Chidambaram’s chartered accountant S. Bhaskaran Raman, Vikas Makharia, representative of Talwandi Sabo Power Ltd, a Mansa-based private company, and Bell Tools, Mumbai, have been named.

The FIR also cites “unknown public servants and private individuals” too.

On May 17, the Central Bureau of Investigation arrested S. Bhaskarraman in the alleged visa scam.

Meanwhile, on Tuesday Karti Chidambaram issued a statement and asserted that he is neither directly or indirectly involved in the visa case.

“I firmly state that I am not associated with this visa issue directly, indirectly, vicariously or even telepathically! The allegations against me by the CBI are ludicrous, to say the least. I categorically deny all of them,” said Karti Chidambaram in a statement.

“I am heading back home today, as was planned when I left 2 weeks ago for a work/ family-visit trip to the UK & Europe. It does not intimidate me that the central government is once again using its agencies to accuse me of a malicious and completely fabricated charge”, statement read.

“Previously, the agencies have gone after me based on the statement of an undertrial murder suspect. Now, they are basing their bogus charges on the alleged actions of a deceased person, whom I have never met. I intend to continue to fight every one of their motivated attempts to target my father through me,” Karti Chidambaram concluded.