New Delhi: A Delhi court on Friday directed the CBI to give a three-day prior written notice to Congress MP Karti Chidambaram in a fresh corruption case alleging he gave relief to a liquor company over the duty-free sale of its whisky.
Special judge Kaveri Baweja passed the order while directing Chidambaram to join the investigation and cooperate in the process as and when required by the agency.
The judge was hearing Chidambaram’s anticipatory bail application in the case against him for allegedly giving relief to liquor company Diageo Scotland over a ban imposed by ITDC on the duty-free sale of its whisky.
Senior advocate Siddharth Luthra, representing Chidambaram, submitted he apprehended the CBI would arrest him upon his return to the country on January 12, 2025.
The court on December 17, 2024 allowed Chidambaram to travel to Vienna, Austria and United Kingdom from January 4-12, 2025.
The application, moved by advocate Arshdeep Singh Khurana, on Friday claimed there was an apprehension the CBI may have got opened a look out circular (LOC) against Chidambaram with an intention to detain him at the airport upon his arrival in the country.
The CBI, however, said the application was premature as there was no apprehension of Chidambaram’s arrest at this stage, and that no LOC was opened against him.
The judge disposed of the application after the defence counsel did not press for the relief after CBI’s submission.
“However, the investigating agency shall give three days written notice prior to the applicant in case his arrest is required after he joins the investigation of the case upon return to the country on January 12, 2025.
The applicant shall join the investigation of the case upon his return to the country and cooperate in the process of investigation, as and when so required in accordance with law,” the judge said.
The application claimed Chidambaram was never called to join the preliminary inquiry in the case till date.
The alleged offences took place between 2004 and 2010 and were punishable with imprisonment up to seven years, it claimed.
The case related to the alleged suspicious payment made to Advantage Strategic Consulting Pvt. Ltd (ASCPL), “an entity controlled” by Karti P Chidambaram and his close aide S Bhaskararaman by Diageo Scotland and Sequoia Capitals, the FIR said.
The case, fourth against the Congress MP, stems from a preliminary enquiry registered by the CBI in 2018 to look into alleged irregularities in granting FIPB clearance when P Chidambaram was the finance minister.
(Except for the headline, this article has not been edited by FPJ’s editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)
