Supreme Court allows Karti Chidambaram to withdraw plea, asks him to approach HC

Karti Chitambaram

The Supreme Court has asked Karti Chidambaram, the son of senior Congress leader P Chidambaram, to approach the Delhi High Court today for seeking any interim relief in the INX Media money laundering case. A bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra requested the acting Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court to allocate Karti's matter to an appropriate bench so that it can be taken up for hearing tomorrow.

The bench, also comprising Justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud, also allowed Karti to withdraw his plea pending with the apex court related to the money laundering case. The top court had on March 6 refused to grant any interim protection to the son of the former Union finance minister. Karti had approached the apex court seeking direction to declare that the Enforcement Directorate had no jurisdiction to conduct any investigation unrelated to the allegations in the FIR lodged by CBI on May 15, 2017.

He had also sought the quashing of summons and all the proceedings initiated by the ED, terming it "unreasonable, without jurisdiction, without authority of law, in colourable exercise of power and vitiated by malafides". Karti was arrested on February 28 in Chennai immediately after he returned from abroad. He had also sought direction to the ED to forbear him from investigation under the PMLA, the commission of a predicate offence or the existence of proceeds of crime in the M/s INX Media case and investigate the alleged offence of money laundering only if and after the proceeds of crime arising out of a predicate offence are identified by the CBI.

The apex court had on February 23 refused to stay the summons issued by the ED against Karti Chidambaram -- who is presently in CBI custody in the INX Media case. The ED had registered a case against him and others in May last year. It had registered an ECIR, against the accused named in a CBI complaint. These included Karti Chidambaram, INX Media and its directors, Peter and Indrani Mukerjea. An FIR, filed on May 15 last year, had alleged irregularities in the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) clearance to INX Media for receiving Rs 305 crore in overseas funds in 2007 when P Chidambaram was Union finance minister.

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