Chennai: The Madras High Court has reserved orders on the maintainability of a petition filed by Karti P. Chidambaram, son of former Union minister P. Chidambaram, challenging a notice issued by the CBI directing him to appear before it on July 21 in connection with a case relating to alleged misuse of his position as the son of the then Finance Minister and influenced the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) to prevent any punitive action against the INX group for violating the FIPB norms.
Justice P. Velmurugan on Wednesday reserved orders on the maintainability of the petition from Karti Chidambaram after hearing elaborate arguments from both sides. In his petition, Karti submitted that after a roving and fishing enquiry, the Enforcement Directorate asked the CBI to file FIR under the Prevention of Corruption Act trying to link the receipt of Rs 10 lakh to the grant of FIPB approval to INX Media. By filling up the obvious missing links between the two independent events purely on the basis of irrelevant inferences, presumptions, surmises, conjectures and through riotous imagination and build up a case of corruption and cheating against him, he added.
He said having failed in its attempt to take action in the FIPB approval in the Aircel Maxis case in the absence of predicate offence, ED realised that in the absence of a predicate offence it cannot issue summons to him even if an ECIR was registered by the ED. Hence, in order to continue its harassment of him and his father, used the CBI as a tool to achieve its nefarious objectives and ensure CBI filed an FIR for an alleged predicate offence. Pursuant thereto, the CBI registered the FIR dated May 15, 2017, under various provisions of IPC and PCA before the Special Judge, CBI cases, Patiala House Courts, New Delhi.
Based on this, the CBI has now issued the summons directing him to appear before it on July 21, he added. Opposing his plea, Additional solicitor general Tushar Mehta had submitted that the summons has been issued well within the jurisdiction and investigative powers of the CBI.
