Former finance minister P. Chidambaram will be confronted with other co-accused in the INX Media corruption case in the next four days. The names of those co-accused have not been disclosed by the agency, prompting Kapil Sibal, the counsel of the senior Congress leader, to allege that the CBI probe is ''clouded''.
Twenty-six hours of questioning over three days was what Chidambaram's counsel referred to in the court to argue that the CBI probe is prejudiced since the agency did not question him on the same when he was summoned by the investigators on three different occasions earlier.
''There is no evidence for the allegation regarding the payment of Rs 5 million dollars and Rs 4.5 million dollars to the accused,'' said Sibal, adding that the CBI has not disclosed the name of any other co-accused with whom Chidambaram was confronted and whom he is to be further confronted with.
Also read
- ‘Indira Gandhi paid the price with her life for this mistake’: What Chidambaram said about Operation Blue Star
- Bihar votes missing, Tamil Nadu gains: Chidambaram Questions EC's SIR amid Rahul Gandhi's 'vote chori' charge
- ‘Worst kind of troll’: Chidambaram responds to row over his ‘homegrown terrorists’ remarks
- Political firestorm erupts as Chidambaram questions Pakistan link in Pahalgam terror attack
The alleged payments were made to Chidambaram by Indrani and Peter Mukerjea after receiving FIPB approval for their media company in 2007-08 and 2008-09 for settling down the issues related to FEMA violations. But, dismissing the counsel's arguments, the CBI special court on Monday remanded Chidambaram to a further four-day custody till August 30, where he will be allowed to meet family members only for half an hour and undergo medical examination every 48 hours.
Trouble seemed to be mounting for Chidambaram as solicitor general Tushar Mehta submitted that the CBI investigation is not yet completed and further confrontation of Chidambaram with some of the accused is still left. Mehta chose not to disclose the names of the co-accused. He also submitted that the letters rogatory have been issued to the countries in question over the payment of 5 million dollars and 4.5 million dollars to the accused and the replies are awaited.
The CBI has also got inputs from the Financial Intelligence Unit that Chidambaram and other co-accused allegedly had accounts and valuable properties in Argentina, Austria, Virginia Island, France, Greece, Malaysia, Monaco, Philippines, Singapore, South Africa, Spain and Sri Lanka. The CBI shared with the court the case record shared by the FIU, which details the investments made through shell companies. The agency argued in the court that the petitioner accused needs to be confronted with these transactions.
The allegations of money laundering, the shell companies allegedly in India and abroad, the movable and immovable properties are expected to be the focus of Chidambaram's questioning in the next few days as the agency focusses on establishing the criminal conspiracy in the INX Media case where alleged proceeds of crime were generated and then parked at various destinations through a complex web of shell companies. The Enforcement Directorate is probing this layering of the alleged proceeds of crime which includes 17 benami foreign bank accounts of the accused and other co-conspirators, other bank accounts and properties which are under its scanner. The agency has told the court that the petitioner accused, apart from being former finance minister and former home minister, also wields substantial and pervasive influence over the witnesses. It referred to attempts being made to tamper with evidence, influence witnesses saying these are not ''bald assertions'' and can be shown to the court from the case record maintained by the investigating agencies.
Chidambaram was arrested by the CBI on August 21 after the Delhi High Court dismissed his petition for anticipatory bail and the Supreme Court refused an immediate hearing on his plea.
