Visa scam: Court directs CBI to give 3-day notice to Congress MP Karti Chidambaram before arrest
New Delhi, May 20
A Delhi court on Friday directed the CBI to give a three-day prior notice to Congress MP Karti Chidambaram if it required to arrest him in connection with a Rs 50 lakh alleged bribery case for clearing visas of 263 Chinese nationals working at Talwandi Sabo Power Ltd in Punjab.
Special Judge M K Nagpal passed the order while dismissing his anticipatory bail plea as withdrawn.
The plea was opposed by the CBI, which said that the application was not maintainable at this point as the applicant was not having any reasonable apprehensions of being arrested in the case.
The CBI also stated that the agency will give notice before 48 hours at least if he was required to be arrested.
The court, however, directed that in case the CBI required to arrest the accused, he needed to be given notice prior to three working days, after senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for Chidambaram, submitted that the time being offered for written notice was too less to seek appropriate legal remedies against the said notice.
“This court also feels that the above time of 48 hours for giving a written notice prior to the arrest of the applicant, in case it is required so, is short and at least three working days time may be given to the applicant for having recourse to the legal remedies in case the CBI intends to arrest him in this case after his joining of the investigation,” the judge said.
Noting that the accused was currently abroad and was likely to return during the night of May 24, the court directed him to join the investigation within 16 hours after he reaches India and to co-operate with the investigation.
The bribery incident is reported to have taken place in 2011 when Karti’s father P Chidambaram was the Union home minister.
The agency has alleged that S Bhaskaraman, Karti’s Chartered Accountant arrested in the case, 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 Mansa-based power plant which was in the process of being set up.
The FIR, registered by the CBI on May 14, has alleged that Makharia approached Karti through his close associate/frontman Bhaskararaman, the officials said.
They devised a back-door way to defeat the purpose of the ceiling (maximum of project visas permissible to the company’s plant) by granting permission to reuse 263 project visas allotted to the said Chinese company’s officials, they said.
Project visas were a special type of visa introduced in 2010 for the power and steel sector for which detailed guidelines were issued during P Chidambaram’s tenure as the home minister but there was no provision for the reissue of project visas, the FIR alleged.
As 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 alleged.
On August 17, 2011, Makharia, on being directed by Bhaskararaman, sent a copy of the above letter dated July 30, 2011, to him through e-mail which was forwarded to Karti Bhakaskararaman after discussion with P Chidambaram, the then Home Minister, demanded an illegal gratification of Rs 50 lakh for ensuring the approval, the FIR alleged.
It alleged that the payment of the said bribe was routed from TSPL to Karti and Bhaskararaman through Mumbai-based Bell Tools Ltd with payments camouflaged under two invoices raised for consultancy and out of pocket expenses for Chinese visas related works.
Makharia had later thanked Karti and Bhaskararaman on email, it added.
