Karti Chidambaram says the allegations against him are baseless and politically motivated.
Karti Chidambaram, the son of former Union minister P Chidambaram, can go to UK but will have to return by the stipulated date or face action, the Supreme Court said today. The 45-year-old businessman, who is being investigated in a corruption case, had asked the court's permission to go for his daughter's admission at Cambridge University.
The court asked Karti Chidambaram could leave India on December 1 and return on December 10. He also has to give an undertaking that he would return on the due date and submit documents in court regarding his daughter's admission once he is back.
Karti Chidambaram is being investigated over allegations that he used his father's influence to clear foreign investment worth around Rs. 300 crore in a television company. INX Media was owned at the time by Peter and Indrani Mukerjea, who are currently in jail, accused of murdering Sheena Bora. A First Information Report against him was lodged in May.
His visits abroad were blocked as the Central Bureau of Investigation, which is looking into the matter, suspected that he was trying to close the foreign accounts where he had parked the money from the kickbacks.
This time the court had asked the agency whether Karti Chidambaram could be allowed to go abroad. The agency asked for a conditional permission, which was granted by the court.
Karti Chidambaram says the allegations against him are baseless and politically motivated. He has also challenged the lookout notice -- which is which alerts airports to stop a passenger from traveling abroad -- issued against him and got relief from the Madras High Court. The agency has appealed in the Supreme Court against the High Court order.
P Chidambaram has said the government was targeting him through his son. The family has challenged the government to prove that Karti Chidambaram has taken kickbacks or parked funds in offshore accounts.