CBI gets sanction to prosecute Chidambaram

In further trouble for P Chidambaram, the government has given the CBI sanction to prosecute the former finance minister in the INX Media case in which he is accused of committing irregularities in granting permission for receiving foreign direct investment.

The CBI had approached the Law Ministry with the request to prosecute Chidambaram recently.

His son Karti was arrested last year in connection with the case after the CBI registered a case in May 2017 against alleged irregularities in the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) clearance to INX Media for receiving overseas funds to the tune of Rs 305 crore in 2007 when Chidambaram was finance minister.

Investigating agencies have claimed that two other accused Peter Mukerjea and Indrani Mukerjea had met Chidambaram in his North Block office where the minister had suggested them to meet Karti.

In the FIR registered on May 15, 2017, the CBI claimed that officials acted under the influence of Karti to grant FIPB clearance for foreign investment, which the firm had already acquired without any formal approval from the government. It claimed INX Media stated in its records that an amount of Rs 10 lakh was given to ASCPL, which was "indirectly" controlled by Karti, for management consultancy charges towards an FIPB notification and clarification. The FIR also alleged that invoices of around Rs 3.5 crore were raised in the name of other companies in which Karti had substantial interests "directly or indirectly".

According to the Enforcement Directorate, which is probing the money laundering angle in the case, Chidambaram had told Mukerjeas to "help the business" of his son Karti when they met him at his office in North Block in 2007 when he was finance minister.