The CBI Today (July 25) opposed Congress MP Karti Chidambaram’s request to relax his bail for foreign travel, citing concerns similar to the Vijay Mallya case. The Delhi High Court has now preponed the hearing to September 10, scrapping the earlier October 16 date.
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NEW DELHI: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) strongly opposed Congress MP Karti Chidambaram’s request to ease his bail conditions to allow easier foreign travel.
The CBI warned the Delhi High Court by using Vijay Mallya’s case as an example, saying such relaxations could lead to risk of the accused fleeing the country.
The hearing took place before Delhi High Court Justice Ravinder Dudeja, where CBI’s Special Counsel Anup S Sharma explained the agency’s objections during a hearing to prepone the date for considering Chidambaram’s plea.
Senior Advocate Siddharth Luthra, representing Karti Chidambaram, argued that his client is a public servant and not a flight risk.
He said:
“He is an MP, he is not going to be an MP of the UK. Even today, he is attending Parliament.”
But CBI lawyer Sharma gave a pointed reply, indirectly referring to fugitive businessman Vijay Mallya, without naming him directly.
Sharma told the court:
“There was one more MP, from Kingfisher. He is today in the UK.”
After hearing this, the court posed a sharp question to Sharma, asking whether he believed that everyone would escape just because one person did:
“If one person has run away, do you think everybody will run away?”
Sharma answered that the CBI has genuine concerns, which is why they want the court to continue controlling Karti Chidambaram’s travel permissions:
He said the agency wants the court’s approval for each and every foreign trip.
After hearing both sides, the court agreed to prepone the case and rescheduled the next hearing to September 10, cancelling the earlier date of October 16.
The case is connected to the alleged INX Media scam, which involves charges of irregularities in foreign investment approvals given to INX Media when Karti Chidambaram’s father, P. Chidambaram, was the Finance Minister.
According to the CBI, a case was filed on May 15, 2017, for suspected illegal Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) approval given to INX Media in 2007 for receiving Rs 305 crore from overseas investors.
Karti Chidambaram was granted bail by the Delhi High Court in March 2018, but one of the main conditions was that he could not travel abroad without permission from the trial court.
Karti has now filed a new application, saying that he is a frequent traveler and has regularly taken court approval for his foreign trips.
He also argued that this bail condition should be relaxed, especially for countries he visits often, such as the UK, Spain, France, Italy, Germany, and the USA.
CASE TITLE:
Karti P Chidambaram v Central Bureau of Investigation.
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