Sushree Mohanty
The Supreme Court has permitted Congress MP Karti Chidambaram, being investigated in the ₹ 305 crore INX Media illegal tax and money laundering case, with the condition of depositing a bond of ₹ 2 crore with the court.
The bench of justices presided by Justice Ashok Bhushan, directed Chidambaram to deposit Rs 2 crore with the registry and file all documents concerning the details of the places he would be visiting and the address of the places he would reside in
The Enforcement Directorate challenged the deposit of ₹ 2 crore, contending that another court had asked him to deposit ₹ 10 crore with it and that the same sentence should be proceeded with.
Congress Leader Kapil Sibal, who is representing Mr. Chidambaram, contended that his client is a representative from parliament and that he isn’t fleeing. He further requested that the deposit amount of ₹ 10 crore ought to be waived off.
The Supreme Court said the sum should be additionally deposited with a nationalized bank and permitted Chidambaram to travel for a 6 months time period. Earlier the Court had permitted him to make a trip to the UK, the US, France, Germany and Spain.
The Congress Leader is accused of several criminal cases identified with the Aircel-Maxis deal and the Foreign Investment Promotion Board clearance to the INX Media for accepting foreign assets of Rs 305 crore when his father, P Chidambaram, was the Union Finance Minister.
The cases are being examined by the Enforcement Directorate and the Central Bureau of Investigation.The Directorate had before asserted that Karti Chidambaram had been attempting to delay the investigation procedure by “blatantly abusing” the freedom conceded by the court in permitting him to travel abroad.
Read more: Karti Chidambaram seeks relief from Income Tax prosecution in top court
