Delhi court sends Karti Chidambaram's CA to 4-day CBI custody

A Delhi court on Thursday handed over S Bhaskararaman the Chartered Accountant of Lok Sabha MP Karti Chidambaram to the CBI for four days custodial interrogation in connection with a Rs 50 lakh alleged bribery case for clearing visas of 263 Chinese nationals working at Talwandi Sabo Power Ltd in PunjabSpecial CBI Judge Prashant Kumar passed the order noting that the investigation was at its initial stage and the accused was required to be quizzedThe bribery incident is reported to have taken place in 2011 when Karti Chidambarams father P Chidambaram was the Union home ministerIt is reflected from the submissions of CBI that investigation has started in this case which is at its inception and investigation officer requires some time to collect all the relevant information which may be necessary in this case therefore in my considered opinion it would be appropriate that 4 days police remand custody is granted to the CBI the judge saidHe noted that the accused was admittedly CA of Kartik Chidambaram and he had been wanted in another case wherein he was been enlarged on bailThe FIR is dated May 14 2022 It is further reflected that though the accused has been inquired during this period however a detailed inquiry as well as the recording of his statement is yet to be done It is also stated by and on behalf of CBI that there are other accused persons involved in this case for which relevant information is required to proceed ahead in this case the court notedThe CBI while seeking remand of the accused told the court that he being CA of Chidambaram had a relevant piece of information as well as various emails which were required to be extracted from him for which his police remand is requiredA thorough detailed investigation is to be done to extract such information from the accused the agency said seeking his 14day custodyThe CBI plea was opposed by the counsel appearing for the accused who stated that there was no need to detain the accused in police custody claiming that all the emails have been obtained in the INX Media Case itselfThe CBI arrested Bhaskararaman late Tuesday night in Chennai and brought him to Delhi on a transit remandThe agency has alleged that Bhaskaraman was approached by Vikas Makharia the then associate vice president of Talwandi Sabo Power Ltd TSPL for the reissue of project visas for 263 Chinese workers working at the Mansabased power plant which was in the process of being set upThe CBI FIR which contains the findings of the investigating officer who probed the PE has alleged that Makharia approached Karti through his close associatefrontman Bhaskararaman the officials saidThey devised a backdoor way to defeat the purpose of the ceiling maximum of project visas permissible to the companys plant by granting permission to reuse 263 project visas allotted to the said Chinese companys officials they saidProject visas were a special type of visa introduced in 2010 for the power and steel sector for which detailed guidelines were issued during P Chidambarams tenure as the home minister but there was no provision for the reissue of project visas the FIR allegedAs per prevalent guidelines deviation in rare and exceptional cases could be considered and granted only with the approval of the Home Secretary However in view of the above circumstances the deviation in terms of reuse of project visas is likely to be approved by the then Home Minister it further allegedMakharia allegedly submitted a letter to the Home Ministry on July 30 2011 seeking approval to reuse the project visas allotted to his company which was approved within a month and permission was issued the officials saidOn August 17 2011 Makharia on being directed by Bhaskararaman sent a copy of the above letter dated July 30 2011 to him through email which was forwarded to KartiBhakaskararaman after discussion with P Chidambaram the then Home Minister demanded an illegal gratification of Rs 50 lakh for ensuring the approval the FIR allegedIt alleged that the payment of the said bribe was routed from TSPL to Karti and Bhaskararaman through Mumbaibased Bell Tools Ltd with payments camouflaged under two invoices raised for consultancy and out of pocket expenses for Chinese visas related worksMakharia had later thanked Karti and Bhaskararaman on email it addedThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever