NEW DEVELOPMENTS
The Supreme Court allowed Congress MP Karti Chidambaram to withdraw Rs 10 crore which was deposited with the apex court registry as a condition for allowing him to travel abroad.
The top court had on February 14, 2020, allowed Karti Chidambaram, who is facing criminal cases being probed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the CBI, to travel to the UK and France for attending a tennis tournament subject to the Rs 10 crore deposit.
A bench of Chief Justice S A Bobde and Justice L Nageswara Rao took up the application through video conferencing and allowed him to withdraw the amount. The instant application for withdrawal of the amount in question is allowed, the bench said.
The Bench said that Karti will have to appear before the investigating authorities in connection with the investigation in INX Media Case and Aircel-Maxis case on such dates as may be fixed by the ED excluding the travelling period, and will cooperate with the investigating agencies in every manner.
It had warned that any absence of full cooperation on the dates of the investigation will be viewed very seriously by the Court and appropriate orders will be passed if required.
The top court had imposed several conditions on Karti like he was to give an undertaking, flight details and date of arrivals and upon furnishing the undertaking he was to be handed over his passport, which is in the custody of ED.
Karti was also asked by the top court, to not open or close any bank accounts overseas and shall not enter into any kind of property transactions.
On January 17, 2020, the top court had allowed the similar application of Karti allowing him to withdraw the Rs 20 crore which was deposited with the apex court registry as a condition for allowing him to travel abroad.
The apex court had in January and May 2019 granted Karti permission to travel to foreign countries after depositing Rs 10 crore each respectively with the registry.
MADRAS HIGH COURT
The Madras High Court on Tuesday dismissed a petition by Congress MP Karti P Chidambaram and his wife challenging the transfer of a tax evasion case filed against them before a lower court to a Special Court for MPs and MLAs. It also rejected another plea from both the petitioners to quash the complaint lodged by the I-T department in connection with the case.
The matter relates to alleged non-disclosure of Rs 6.38 crore incomes by Karti and Rs 1.35 crore by his wife Srinidhi.
BACKGROUND OF INVESTIGATION
Karti is facing several criminal cases being investigated by the ED and the CBI including one which relates to the Foreign Investment Promotion Board clearance to INX Media for receiving foreign funds of Rs 305 crore when his father P Chidambaram was the finance minister.
