A Kingfisher MP fled to UK: CBI opposes Karti Chidambaram's plea to relax foreign travel restrictions

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Friday cited the Vijay Mallya case as a cautionary example while opposing Congress MP Karti Chidambaram's plea to ease his bail conditions for foreign travel [Karti P Chidambaram v Central Bureau of Investigation].

Special Counsel for CBI, Anup S Sharma, made the submission before Delhi High Court Justice Ravinder Dudeja while he was hearing Chidambaram's plea to advance the hearing of his plea to relax the bail condition.

Senior Advocate Siddharth Luthra appeared for Chidambaram and stated that he is an MP attending the parliament and is not a flight risk.

"He is an MP, he is not going to be an MP of the UK. Even today, he is attending Parliament,” Luthra said.

Without naming Mallya, Sharma said that even the former Kingfisher boss used to be an MP and today he is sitting in the UK.

"There was one more MP, from Kingfisher. He is today in the UK," Sharma said.

The Court then asked Sharma if one person had run away, does he believe that everyone would flee?

"If one person has run away, do you think everybody will run away?" the Bench asked.

Sharma said that the agency has some concerns and that is why they want Chidambaram to get the court's permission for every foreign travel.

The Court then advanced the hearing of the case to September 10 and cancelled the earlier date of October 16.

The case pertains to the alleged INX Media scam. The CBI had registered a case on May 15, 2017, alleging irregularities in a Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) clearance granted to the media group for receiving overseas funding of ₹305 crore in 2007, when Karti Chidambaram's father P Chidambaram was the Union Finance Minister.

Karti Chidambaram was granted bail by the High Court in the case in March 2018. One of the conditions imposed was that Chidambaram should not travel outside India without the trial court's permission.

Chidambaram the filed the present application arguing that he is a frequent traveller and has been travelling to several countries with the Court's permission.

He added that the condition should be relaxed in respect of countries like the UK, Spain, France, Italy, Germany and the USA which he frequently visits.