The CBI questioned Lok Sabha MP Karti Chidambaram for the third consecutive day on May 28 in connection with its probe into the alleged ₹ 50-lakh bribery for issuance of 263 project visas to Chinese workers involved in the construction of the Talwandi Sabo power project in 2011, officials said.
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He arrived at the CBI headquarters early in the morning to face the investigation team. The questioning is likely to continue throughout the day with a lunch break, they said The CBI is questioning Karti Chidambaram since Thursday in the 11-year old case which the Congress leader has termed as "most bogus" and a result of "political vendetta". The case is of 2011 when his father P Chidambaram was the Union Home Minister.
The CBI had registered an FIR on May 14 against Mr. Karti and others over allegations of a ₹ 50-lakh bribe being paid to him and his close associate S Bhaskararaman by a top executive of Vedanta group company Talwandi Sabo Power Ltd (TSPL) for re-issuance of Project Visa for 263 Chinese workers, the CBI FIR said.
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TSPL was setting up a power plant in Punjab.
Project visas were a special type of visas introduced in 2010 for the power and steel sector, detailed guidelines for which were issued during P Chidambaram's tenure as Union home minister. However, there was no provision for re-issue of project visas, the FIR has alleged.
The agency has already arrested Bhaskararaman in connection with the case.