Chidambaram faces CBI heat

SEARCHES AT HOMES OF FORMER FM, SON

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Tuesday searched 14 places across the country, including the residences of former Union finance minister P Chidambaram and his son Karti Chidambaram, in relation to a case of criminal misconduct in granting foreign investment clearance to INX Media, formerly owned by Peter and Indrani Mukerjea. The charges against Karti Chidambaram are:

CRIMINAL CONSPIRACY

INX Media allegedly engaged Karti Chidambaram for settling a case of foreign investment violation in 2007. It had been granted permission to bring in foreign investment of R4.6 crore by the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB), but got R305 crore

UNDUE INFLUENCE

Karti Chidambaram allegedly used his influence over some FIPB officials to stop a probe into INX Media and give it permission for the money it had already brought in without permission

MONEY RECEIVED

According to the CBI, in a bid to conceal his identity, Karti Chidambaram received R10 lakh for “management consultancy” through Advantage Strategic Consulting, a firm controlled by him

CONFLICT OF INTEREST

The CBI alleged companies in which Karti Chidambaram has “direct and indirect interests” raised invoices of R3.5 crore on INX Media

“THE GOVT, USING THE CBI AND OTHER AGENCIES, IS TARGETING MY SON AND HIS FRIENDS... (ITS) AIM IS TO SILENCE MY VOICE AND STOP ME FROM WRITING”

P CHIDAMBARAM,

Former finance minister

“PEOPLE IN HIGH POSITIONS ACQUIRING ASSETS THROUGH SHELL COMPANIES IS NOT A SMALL MATTER... THE DAY OF RECKONING HAS COME FOR MANY”

ARUN JAITLEY,

Finance minister

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), on Monday, registered a case against Karti P Chidambaram, son of former finance minister P Chidambaram, for allegedly interfering and influencing the manner in which the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) treated INX Media Pvt Ltd — a company whose directors were Indrani Mukherjea and Pritam 'Peter' Mukherjea.

The FIR that was registered also fingers the Mukherjea couple, a company called Advantage Strategic Consulting (represented through its director Padma Viswanathan) and “unknown officers/officials of ministry of finance, Government of India”.

In the early hours of Tuesday, the CBI conducted searches on the premises of the accused in Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Chennai over alleged irregularities in the manner in which INX Media received foreign direct investments (FDI) worth ~305 crore.

The CBI, in its FIR, alleges that INX Media turned to Karti Chidambaram “to wriggle out of the situation without any punitive action”. “Upon receipt of this letter from the unit, INX Media Ltd … entered into a criminal conspiracy with Karthi P Chidambaram, son of P Chidambaram, the-then finance minister”.

INX Media reached out to Karti Chidambaram, the CBI said, to get this issue resolved by “influencing the public servants of the FIPB unit by virtue of his relationship with the finance minister”.

Karti Chidambaram’s role, the FIR noted, played out primarily through a company called Chess Management Services Ltd — a company in which the junior Chidambaram was a director. On the basis of “clarifications suggested by Chess Management Services”, INX Media then replied to the FIPB unit with a number of justifications. Because of Karti Chidambaram’s influence, officers within the finance ministry “ignored the serious illegality on the part of INX Media” and also continued to show “undue favour to the INX Group” by advising them to apply for fresh FIPB approval for the downstream investment even though it had already been made.

“In their endeavour to show undue favour, the officers/officials of the FIPB unit also ignored the request of the department of revenue to investigate the matter as to how downstream investment in INX News was made by the company without FIPB's approval,” the FIR alleged.