Chinese visa case: Delhi HC refuses immediate stay on trial against Karti Chidambaram

Justice Manoj Jain, however, refused to stay the trial court proceedings at this stage and issued notice on Karti Chidambaram’s application seeking the relief

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday refused to immediately stay trial court proceedings against Congress MP Karti Chidambaram in the alleged Chinese visa case.

The trial court on December 23 had framed charges against Karti and six others. (ANI file photo)

A bench of justice Manoj Jain noted that the lawmaker had only filed a petition against the trial court’s December 23 order framing charges against him, and the same could not be used to “derail the trial.”

The trial court on December 23 had framed charges against Karti and six others, concluding that a prima facie case was made out against him for offences of criminal conspiracy and bribery of a public servant.

The judge said that the conspiracy hatched between the accused number 1, S Bhaskaraman, and the accused number 2, Karti, was evident. The court said that there was strong suspicion against Karti as the same was backed by an approver’s statement and the case against him was not solely based on email confirmation.

“We can’t do anything. We’ll hear on the next date. Whatever, you have to participate. This (trial) cannot be stayed. We’ll seek a short reply (from the Central Bureau of Investigation), and then we’ll see. If you’re only challenging the charges, let’s not derail the trial. Nothing today,” the bench said to Karti’s lawyers, senior advocate Siddharth Luthra and advocate Akshat Gupta.

This came after Luthra urged the court to stay the trial court proceedings, contending that the next hearing before the trial court was scheduled for February 4 and that the order framing charges was erroneous.

Luthra further submitted that charges had been framed against his client under Section 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Sections 8 (bribery of a public servant) and 9 (bribery by a commercial organisation) of the Prevention of Corruption Act without the essential ingredients required to constitute the offences. He argued that the CBI had neither identified the public servant allegedly bribed nor arraigned any such official in the case, and also lacked sufficient evidence to establish the demand or acceptance of bribes.

However, CBI’s lawyer Anupam Sharma opposed the request and said that the matter before the trial court on February 4 was only for admission and denial of documents.

Considering the contentions, the court, however, sought CBI’s response in the petition challenging the December 23 order and application seeking a stay of the verdict. It fixed February 12 as the next hearing date.

To be sure, Justice Manoj Jain issued notice after three Delhi high court judges, including justices Swarana Kanta Sharma, Anup Jairam Bhambhani and Girish Kathpalia, recused themselves from hearing the petition.

In October 2024, the CBI filed a charge sheet against Karti and others for their alleged involvement in facilitating visas for Chinese nationals of a power company in 2011, when his father, P Chidambaram, was the Union home minister.

The federal agency alleged that the firm approached Karti, who used his influence to facilitate the visas in violation of the ceiling imposed.