Sakshi Explainer: Brief Timeline of Cases Against Karti and Chidambaram

Karti Chidambaram is no stranger to controversy. He and his father former Union Home Minister Chidambaram are facing allegations of corruption for a decade. According to the Enforcement Directorate, Karti owns land, a tennis club in Spain’s Barcelona, cottages in Britain and other benami properties in India and abroad worth Rs 54 crore. Let’s take a look at the timeline of allegations and cases against the father-son duo. 

INX Media case

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) registered a case against the INX Media group for alleged Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) violations. Back in January in 2008, the finance ministry had raised the issue of FDO of Rs 305 crore by three Mauritius-based companies in INX Media Pvt Ltd which was owned by Peter and Indrani Mukherjee. 

Several years later, Enforcement Directorate officials during a probe found the documents related to INX Media in the computer of Karti’s CA while probing a company associated with him. 

The recovered documents indicated payments were made to Karti’s alleged INX Media when it was granted Foreign Investment Promotion Board by the finance ministry, as per the The Indian Express report. It is then the CBI registered a case against Karti and his father Chidambaram and launched a money laundering case against them. 

CBI officials arrested Karti in February 2018 but he got bail a month later. 

Read Aloud: CBI Raids 10 Locations in Various Cities Including Karti’s Residence in Bribery Case

Aircel-Maxis case

This case is related to alleged irregularities in the grant of Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) approval in the Aircel Maxis deal. The FIPB approval was allegedly granted in 2006 when P Chidambaram was the Union finance minister. 

In 2006, Maxis had taken over Aircel but the seal came under the scanner in 2011 when Aircel owner C Sivasankaran alleged that he had been pressured to sell his stake to Maxis. The CBI registered a case in October 2011 and later named Karti and his father Chidambaram as accused in the supplementary chargesheet in 2018. 

Later, the Enforcement Directorate also joined the investigation. The probe agencies said former finance minister Chidambaram approved the deal beyond his capacity to benefit certain people including his son. In  March 2022, a Delhi court granted bail to the father-son duo in the corruption and money laundering cases pertaining to the Airtel-Maxis deal.