CBI Files Chargesheet Against Former Finance Minister P Chidambaram

The Central Bureau of Investigation today filed its chargesheet in the INX Media foreign investment approval case at a court in New Delhi. The CBI has made 14 people accused in the case including former finance minister P Chidambaram, his son Karti Chidambaram and some former Finance Ministry officials.

Chidambaram and others have been charged with sections of Indian Penal code which deal with cheating, forgery and other provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act as well.

The former finance minister, currently lodged in Delhi’s Tihar Jail, is being investigated by the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate in connection with the INX Media case. Chidambaram has also filed a bail plea in the Supreme Court against his arrest carried out by the CBI. The judgment of the case was reserved today.

The former Finance Ministry officials named in the chargesheet include Ajit Kumar Dungdung, Rabindra Prasad, Pradeep Kumar Bagga, Anup K Pujari, Prabodh Saxena and Sindhushree Khullar.

The CBI, in its chargesheet, said that INX Media received foreign investment of Rs 403 crore at the time when it was by law allowed to accept nothing more than Rs 4.62 crore in foreign direct investment. The CBI’s case calls this a violation of the Foreign Exchange Management Act as the investment was not approved by the Foreign Investment Promotion Board.

The CBI argued that to overcome this hurdle the then INX Media directors, Peter and Indrani Mukerjea, entered into a criminal conspiracy with former finance minister P Chidambaram and paid Rs 9.96 lakh to a shell company which was a front by Chidambaram’s son Karti.

The CBI argued that this was done to avoid the penalty which INX Media would have otherwise had to pay for violation of the FEMA norms which would have been three times of the amount involved.