Karti Chidambaram appears before ED

Former Finance Minister P Chidambaram's son Karti on Thursday appeared before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with its money laundering probe in the INX media case.

Earlier twice, Karti had sent his representative but the ED had then asked for his personal appearance before the investigating officer.

The ED has based its case on the CBI FIR against Karti and others.

Last Saturday, the ED had searched the premises of Karti and those associated with him in a separate money laundering case related to Aircel-Maxis deal.

On May 15, the CBI registered a case against Karti, his company Chess Management Services, INX Media, ASCPL, its director Padma Vishwanathan and INX Media's Peter Mukerjea and his wife Indrani Mukerjea, who are currently in jail on charges of murdering their daughter.

According to the CBI, INX Media stated in its records that an amount of Rs 10 lakh was given to ASCPL, a firm the CBI also said was "indirectly" owned by Karti, for management consultancy charges towards an FIPB notification and clarification.

The FIR also alleged that invoices of approximately Rs 3.5 crore were raised in favour of INX Media in the name of other companies in which Karti had substantial interests "directly or indirectly".