NEW DELHI: The ED on Tuesday questioned Congress MP Karti Chidambaram for the second time in less than a month in connection with a money laundering case related to alleged violation of rules in issuing visas to 260 Chinese nationals in 2011 under the UPA government.
Karti was last questioned on December 23 at the ED headquarters, with the Congress MP dismissing the session as a “routine affair” and an exercise in futility.
The Congress leader is being probed for alleged bribes of Rs 50 lakh received by one of his associates for lobbying with the Union home ministry, which was then headed by his father P Chidambaram. These entry permits were issued in 2011 in violation of rules, according to the CBI that had first filed an FIR in the case. As per the CBI FIR, it was Kartik who lobbied his father for issuing visas to the Chinese nationals engaged for the construction of a power project in Punjab.
S Bhaskaraman, allegedly a close associate of Karti, was made co-accused by the CBI for allegedly receiving kickbacks from Talwandi Sabo Power Ltd, a Vedanta group company, which was setting up a power plant in Punjab with Chinese assistance. Soon after, the CBI searched Congress MP’s houses in Delhi and Chennai. Later, the ED conducted its own search and seizure operations in the case.