P Chidambaram was arrested by the CBI in August in the INX Media corruption case.
Highlights
- CBI files charge-sheet in INX Media corruption case
- P Chidambaram accused of facilitating clearances for company
- He was arrested in August, currently in custody of investigating agency
Former Finance Minister P Chidambaram, his son Karti, and 13 others including senior bureaucrats and private companies were accused of causing losses to the government in a charge-sheet filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation or CBI before a Delhi court on Friday in the INX Media corruption case.
The charge-sheet, which was filed before a special court and will take up the case on Monday, alleges the Chidambarams received Rs 9.96 lakh as bribes in 2008 to facilitate illegal foreign investment in INX Media a company founded by Peter and Indrani Mukherjea.
The accused in the charge-sheet include Peter Mukherjea; ex-NITI Ayog CEO Sindhushree Khullar, INX Media; INC News; Chess Management Services; Advantage Strategic Consulting; former and current government officials Ajit Kumar Dungdung, Rabindra Prasad, PK Bagga, Prabodh Saxena, Anoop K Pujari and chartered accountant S Bhaskaraman.
Indrani Mukerjea, who has turned approver against Mr Chidambaram, appears in the list but does not face charges. Both Peter and Indrani Mukerjea are currently in jail in the case involving the murder of Indrani's daughter Sheena Bora.
The charges against the accused include criminal conspiracy, cheating, forgery and accepting bribes.
The CBI has also accused Karti Chidambaram of floating a shell company to receive illegal pay-offs masked as consultancy fees and other payments. While Indrani Mukerjea had claimed to have paid $5 million as bribes to the Chidambarams in offshore accounts, CBI sources told NDTV that the agency is awaiting details on the payments from foreign governments.
Arrested by the CBI on August 21, P Chidambaram had been in judicial custody at the Tihar jail since September 5 in the INX Media corruption case filed by the CBI. He was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate or ED in a money laundering case on Wednesday and sent to the agency's custody for a week on Thursday.
P Chidambaram, who served twice as finance minister and also as a home minister in the previous Congress-led governments, has denied any wrongdoing and said the charges are politically motivated.
Hearing Mr Chidambaram's request for bail, the Supreme Court reserved the order on Friday.