The Supreme Court of India has directed Karti Chidambaram, son of former Union Minister P Chidambaram to appear before the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on August 23. Karti Chidambaram has responded to the apex court by saying that he would appear before the central probe agency but he would need protection. Karti said, ”I am not afraid of appearing before the CBI, but I need protection”. The court allowed Karti Chidambaram to be accompanied by an advocate during questioning at CBI headquarters. The court, however, clarified that accompanying advocate will not be in the room where questioning of Karti Chidambaram will take place. The Supreme Court asked CBI and Karti Chidambaram to file their respective reports before it on August 28, the next date of hearing.
CBI claims that Karti received money from INX Media for using his influence to get Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) clearance for it to receive overseas funds. The CBI claims that the alleged dealings took place in 2007 when Karti’s father was the Union Finance Minister. The probe agency also claims that the junior Chidambaram received money from INX Media for using his influence to manipulate a tax probe against it. CBI also claims that Karti’s associates CBN Reddy, Mohanan Rajesh, Ravi Viswanathan and S Bhaskararaman are also involved in the case.
Earlier, a Supreme Court Bench comprising of Chief justice JS Khehar and Justice D Y Chandrachud stated that Karti not to be allowed to leave the country without joining the probe, according to an Indian Express report.