The CBI on Friday filed a charge sheet against 14 accused persons, including former Union Finance Minister P. Chidambaram and his son Karti, in the INX Media case .
Questioning the timing, Mr. Karti tweeted: “It’s been done only to beat the 60-day deadline of my father’s [judicial] custody. We will deal with it as per legal procedure and will be vindicated. Unfortunate that family, associates and members of the civil service are pulled into a pure political score settling fight.”
Among those arraigned in the charge sheet are INX Media, its subsidiary INX News and then director Peter Mukerjea, Chess Management Services Private Limited, Advantage Strategic Consulting Private Limited (ASCPL) and Mr. Karti's chartered accountant S. Bhaskararaman.
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Indrani Mukerjea, a former INX Media director, turned approver earlier this year with the court's permission. She alleges to have paid $5 million through offshore route in lieu of the favours, and having met Mr. Chidambaram on the FIPB (Foreign Investment Promotion Board) issue in March/April 2007.
Then Additional Secretary Sindhushree Khullar, Joint Secretary (Foreign Trade) Anup K. Pujari and Pradeep Kumar Bagga, then Officer-on-Special Duty in the Department of Economic Affairs; and then FIPB unit Director Prabodh Saxena, Under Secretary Rabindra Prasad and Section Officer Ajit Kumar Dungdung have also been named as accused.
Against those accused, the CBI has invoked Sections 120-B (criminal conspiracy), 420 (cheating), 468 (forgery for cheating) and 471 (using forged document as genuine) of Indian Penal Code along with relevant provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act. The
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The CBI is probing the allegation that INX Media received ₹403.07 crore in foreign investments against the FIPB approved amount of just ₹4.62 crore in 2007. It also made an illegal downstreaming of ₹40.91 crore into its sister concern, INX News.
According to the CBI, the Mukerjeas conspired with Mr. Chidambaram, his son and the then public servants of the FIPB unit to get the issues settled without any penal action against them under the Foreign Exchange Management Act, which involved a penalty up to 300% of the amount involved.
“Investigation further revealed that Mr. Karti had floated a front company, ASCPL, for receiving illegal pay-offs in the guise of various consultancies, fees and payments. INX Media had also made a payment of ₹9.96 lakh to ASCPL without delivery of any service,” said an official.
Letters Rogatory sent
The CBI has sent Letters Rogatory (judicial requests) seeking details from Singapore, Mauritius, Bermuda, the United Kingdom and Switzerland, on the alleged payments overseas. The responses are awaited.
The CBI arrested Mr. Chidambaram from his residence in South Delhi on August 21, after his plea for anticipatory bail, earlier denied by the Delhi High Court, was not entertained by the Supreme Court. In the same case, his son was arrested in February 2018.
Mr. Chidambaram is currently in the Enforcement Directorate's custody in connection with the money laundering probe into the same allegation.