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Karti Chidambaram moves Delhi court for pre-arrest bail in visa for Chinese case: Report
The Lok Sabha MP from Sivaganga was booked by the Central Bureau of Investigation on May 17 for allegedly facilitating visas to Chinese nationals for working on a project in Punjab in exchange for bribes.
Congress MP Karti Chidambaram on Friday moved Delhi court seeking pre-arrest bail in visa for Chinese case, ANI reported.The move comes three days after he was booked by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) over charges of allegedly facilitating visas for Chinese nationals for a project in Punjab in exchange for bribes.
The case was filed against Karti Chidambaram, his chartered accountant S Bhaskararaman, Vikas Makharia of Vedanta Group, TSPL, Mumbai-based company Bell Tools Limited and unknown public servants. The case was filed following raids by the CBI at premises of Karti Chidambaram on May 17.
On Thursday, the CBI got four days remand of Karti Chidambaram's CA S Bhaskar Raman in the visa case. “It is reflected from the submissions of CBI that investigation has started in this case which is at its inception, investigation officer is required some time to collect all the relevant information which may be necessary in this case, therefore, in my considered opinion, it would be appropriate that 4 days police remand custody is granted to the CBI,” Special CBI Judge Prashant Kumar said.
The case pertains to the alleged events between July and September 2011, when P Chidambaram was the union home minister in the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government.
The CBI has alleged that ₹50 lakh was paid to Advantage Strategic Consulting Private Limited, which was controlled by Karti, for facilitating project visas for 263 Chinese nationals who were to work at Vedanta Group's 1980 megawatt thermal power project, which was being run by its subsidiary TalwandiSabo Power Limited in Punjab's Mansa district.
In June 2018, the Enforcement Directorate had written to the CBI claiming that it retrieved emails revealing ₹50 lakh was paid to Karti's firm for the visa facilitation. The CBI lodged a preliminary enquiry in March this year, which was converted into an FIR on May 14.
