INX Media case: P Chidambaram was summoned by the Enforcement Directorate.
Highlights
- P Chidambaram was summoned by Enforcement Directorate for questioning
- He was given protection by arrest till January 15 by Delhi High Court
- He was finance minister when INX Media got clearance for foreign funds
Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram was questioned for seven hours by the Enforcement Directorate at the probe agency's office in the capital after he was summoned in connection with the INX Media case.
Last month, the Delhi High Court had given Mr Chidambaram protection from arrest till January 15.
The central probe agency had earlier questioned Mr Chidambaram's son Karti in this case and has also attached his assets worth an estimated Rs 54 crore, located in India and abroad.
He was asked to depose before the investigating officer of the case to record his statement under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), news agency PTI quoted official sources as saying.
P Chidambaram reached the Enforcement Directorate office in Delhi on Wednesday morning.
The role of Mr Chidambaram, 73, had come under the scanner of various investigating agencies in the Rs. 3,500-crore Aircel-Maxis deal and the INX Media case involving Rs. 305 crore. It was during his tenure as finance minister in the UPA-I government that clearances from the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) were given to the two ventures.
The Enforcement Directorate and the CBI are probing how Mr Chidambaram's son Karti managed to get clearance from FIPB.
Alleging irregularities in clearances given to INX Media, the agency had registered an Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR), the equivalent of a police First Information Report, against the accused named in a CBI complaint, including Karti Chidambaram, INX Media and its former owners Peter and Indrani Mukerjea.
Karti Chidambaram was arrested in February by the CBI for allegedly taking money to facilitate the FIPB clearance to INX Media. He was released on bail later.
(With inputs from PTI)