WEB DESK
Karti Chidambaram, arrested in connection with the probe into the INX Media case, was today remanded to one-day CBI custody by a Delhi Court.
Karti, son of former Finance Minister P Chidambaram, was produced before Metropolitan Magistrate Sumeet Anand and the CBI sought his custodial interrogation for 15 days claiming that he was not cooperating in the probe.
The duty magistrate remanded him to one-day CBI custody and asked the agency to produce Karti before the concerned judge tomorrow.
Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) claimed his custodial interrogation was needed to unearth the conspiracy on the basis of confessional statements of INX Media Limited directors Peter and Indrani Mukerjea.
The Mukerjeas, alleged that they paid $700,000 to Karti on the instructions of his father, former Finance Minister P Chidambaram, as quid pro quo for an FIPB clearance, officials said.
The statements of the Mukerjeas were recorded by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), which is probing the money laundering angle in the case, while the CBI had only recorded Indrani’s statement before a magistrate as per section 164 of the CrPC, they said.
Earlier in the day, CBI sought a 15-day judicial custody after producing Karti before Metropolitan Magistrate Sumeet Anand.
His father, former Finance Minister P Chidambaram, was not available for comments. However, he had earlier denied the involvement of his son in any case.
Senior Congress leader and advocate Abhishekh Manu Singhvi, who is representing Karti in court, on Wednesday raised question over his ‘sudden arrest’, at a time when the Centre is facing flak over the PNB scam involving businessman Nirav Modi.
Karti was detained at the Chennai Airport on Wednesday and after the necessary formalities were completed, he was put on a domestic flight to the national capital.
The case relates to the approval given by the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) for the receipt of funds by INX Media which took place while Karti’s father, P Chidambaram, was the Union finance minister. CBI has alleged that the Foreign Exchange Management Act (Fema) was violated. The Chidambarams, however, have denied all charges made against them.
The Congress has called Karti’s arrest a “vendetta” and a “diversionary tactic”. The BJP, for its part, has said that this is the law.