As the CBI and Enforcement Directorate (ED) close in on Karti Chidambaram, investigators say he is still not cooperating with the probe agency. This may prompt the CBI to seek extension of his custody for further questioning. Karti’s custody ends on Tuesday and he will be produced before the CBI special judge in Patiala House Court on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, investigators are trying to build a watertight case against Karti; the confessions of the Mukerjeas—Peter and Indrani, the then owners of INX Media—will play a major role in determining the fate of the criminal case against Karti Chidambaram. The accused was charged with using the office of his father, then finance minister P. Chidambaram, to influence and manipulate a probe against the company.
Indrani had confronted Karti in jail in Mumbai on Sunday. In a fresh development, the ED got the CBI court's permission to question Peter in the case.
The agency is probing the money laundering angle in the case against the couple. Peter will be questioned on March 6.
Both Indrani and Peter are incarcerated in Arthur Road Jail in Mumbai after they were arrested for the murder of Indrani’s daughter Sheena Bora in 2012. Incidentally, the couple is under trial in the murder case, which is also being probed by the CBI.
The INX media is accused of flouting provisions of the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB), and statements given by Indrani to the ED have implicated the then finance minister, according to sources. Indrani is learnt to have reiterated her claims that they had met Chidambaram in his north block office, seeking FIPB clearance for their media company which was also under the IT lens.
The Mukerjeas claimed that then finance minister asked them to help his son’s “business” interests and make “foreign remittances” for the purpose. Subsequently they claimed to have met Karti Chidambaram where he made a demand of Rs 1 million, and suggested the names of Chess Management and Advantage Strategic as “alternatives to make payment”.
Subsequently, Indrani said in a statement to the CBI that 700,000 USD (Rs 3.10 crore) was paid. “The said payment was made abroad and this aspect is still being investigated,” said an ED official.
The revelations gain significance as the the agency will now question Peter once again after Karti’s arrest by the CBI. Significantly, the ED is tightening its case against Karti and has forwarded its complaints to the CBI to probe the larger conspiracy of the office of the finance minister being misused to accrue gains to companies linked to Karti Chidambaram.
The accused has claimed that there is political vendetta behind the probe against him, even as his counsel told the special CBI court that it was then Chidambaram who had ordered the probe against INX Media during his term as finance minister.