SC notice to ED on Karti's plea to refund Rs 20 cr

The Supreme Court on Monday issued a notice to the Enforcement Directorate on a plea by Congress MP Karti Chidambaram to refund Rs 20 crore, which was deposited as a condition for his travel abroad.

A bench headed by Chief Justice S A Bobde and Justices B R Gavai and Surya Kant sought a response from the investigating agency on the petition by Karti and put it for further consideration on Friday.

Senior advocate K V Vishwanathan, appearing for Karti, son of former Union Minister P Chidambaram, said that the money that was deposited on January 30 and May 7 with the Supreme Court registry should be allowed to be withdrawn as Karti had returned back.

The court had allowed Karti to visit the United Kingdom and the USA in May, and Germany and Spain in June, for international tennis tournaments organised by 'Totus Tennis Ltd'.

Karti is facing criminal cases that are being probed by the ED and the CBI. One of the cases relates to the FIPB clearance to INX Media for receiving foreign funds of Rs 305 crore when his father was the finance minister.