INX media case transferred to MP MLA court as Karti Chidambaram becomes MP

INX media case, in which newly-elected Member of Parliament Karti Chidambaram is facing a probe, was transferred to MP MLA special court from a CBI court on Wednesday owing to jurisdiction issue.

Karti had won from Sivaganga parliamentary seat by a margin of over 3 lakh votes in the recently-concluded Lok Sabha elections.

This comes after, Special CBI judge Anurag Sain had reserved the order till May 29 over a plea filed by Indrani Mukerjea seeking to turn approver in the case. Now, the matter will be heard by MP MLA special court judge Arun Bhardwaj.

Bhardwaj has however sought time till June 7, as he has to go through the case file.

Indrani Mukerjea, who is currently lodged in Byculla jail in connection with the murder case of her daughter Sheena Bora, had earlier told the court that she voluntarily agreed to become an approver in the case.

The probe agency had submitted before the court that it has come across evidence in the form of conversations which only Mukerjea is privy to and will help consolidate the INX media case.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) and CBI are probing how Karti managed to obtain clearance to the tune of Rs 305 crore from the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) in 2007 when his father P Chidambaram was the finance minister.

The ED had attached properties belonging to Karti Chidambaram in connection with the case. He was arrested on February 28, 2018, and was later released on bail.

Both the investigating agencies are also probing how Karti managed to obtain the FIPB clearance.

The ED probe so far showed that for the FIPB approval, INX Media directors Peter and Indrani Mukerjea met P Chidambaram so that there was no delay in their application. The ED has attached properties belonging to the Mukherjea's in connection with the case.