Feel sad about my son and his friends being targeted, says Chidambaram

Karti Chidambaram had never met any officer connected with FIPB, says former Union finance minister

Senior Congress leader and former Union finance minister P Chidambaram on Monday came out in defence of his son, Karti Chidambaram, who is facing the allegation that he influenced the FIPB’s decisions on foreign investments into INX Media during the UPA government’s tenure. 

“I can say with absolute certainty that Karti Chidambaram had never met any officer connected with the FIPB (Foreign Investment Promotion Board). Besides, he had no connection with the applicant company (INX Media/INX News),” Chidambaram said in a statement, adding that the allegation also humiliated the civil servants who were in the FIPB during the period.

“I feel sad that my son and his business friends are being targeted. I am indignant that some of the most distinguished civil servants of the country have been humiliated by the FIR. In the instant case, it is not one secretary but six secretaries (and the FIPB secretariat) who are being humiliated on a ridiculous charge of being induced by an alleged gratification of ~10 lakh. I make this statement so that the misinformation emanating from Chennai is exposed,” he said, with reference to a copy of an FIR allegedly being originated from Chennai.

The FIPB was serviced by a secretariat and chaired by the secretary of economic affairs with four other secretaries (industry, commerce, external affairs and overseas Indian affairs), apart from the secretary of the administrative ministry. At the relevant time, the FIPB was chaired by D Subbarao, an IAS officer who later became the governor of the RBI. He was succeeded by Ashok Chawla, another IAS officer who later became the chairman of the Competition Commission of India.

Explaining the functioning of the FIPB, Chidambaram said no single officer could take a decision on any proposal, since it was a collective decision of six secretaries.

“Anyone who has worked with me knows that no one would dare to influence my decisions. I had never allowed any family member to speak to me or to any officer of my ministry on any official matter. It is, therefore, preposterous to suggest that a member of my family, with or without my knowledge, influenced, by corrupt or illegal means, the six secretaries who constituted the FIPB. Such an allegation is a despicable slur on the six secretaries of the government who constituted the FIPB at the relevant time,” he added.

The former minister said Karti was never a director or shareholder of Advantage Strategic Consulting Pvt Ltd, while the promoters or directors were his friends.

While he refrained himself and advised his son and his friends from making any statement after his statement on May 16, on the day when the raids were conducted, “leaks and insinuations have been deliberately fed to a section of the media and maliciously circulated in the social media,” he said.

“Ultimately, the course of law will expose the mischief makers. I have advised my son to fully cooperate with the investigation and he will do so,” he said.