Chinese Visa case: Delhi Court reserves order in Karti Chidambaram anticipatory bail plea

A Special Court on Monday reserved its order on the anticipatory bail plea filed by Congress Member of Parliament Karti Chidambaram in a case registered by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) over allegations of money laundering in allotting Chinese visas [Karti Chidambaram v. Enforcement Directorate]..Special Judge MK Nagpal in the meantime ordered that the interim protection earlier granted to Chidambaram will continue till June 3, when the order is likely to be pronounced..The case was registered after a search and seizure operation was conducted at the residence of Karti's father, former Union Minister P Chidambaram on May 14. It was alleged that Karti was facilitating visas of 250 Chinese nationals after receiving illegal gratification of ₹50 lakh. On the basis of the case registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), the ED filed a money laundering case..On Monday, Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal, representing Karti, submitted that allegations pertaining to concealment, possession and acquisition had to be satisfied before a money laundering charge is invoked.Sibal also contended that his client had cooperated with the CBI for three days, after which he had been granted protection from the court.Additional Solicitor General SV Raju opposed the pre-arrest bail plea, contending that the same was premature, as the investigation hadn’t even begun in the present case..Karti apprehended his arrest on the manner and haste with which the enforcement case information report (ECIR) appears to have been registered against him.The allegations in the CBI’s FIR were that Talwandi Sabo Power Limited (TSPL) had paid an amount of ₹50 lakh to Bell Tools Limited (BTL) which in turn relayed it to S Bhaskararaman as gratification for the Chinese visas.Karti, however, stated that nothing incriminating was found and no incriminating material was seized during the said search proceedings.“The gist of the allegations in the subject FIR is that TSPL paid a sum of ₹50 lakh by cheque to BTL, Mumbai and, in turn, the said BTL paid ₹50 lakh by cash to S Bhaskararaman as gratification. There is no allegation that Bhaskararaman paid the whole or any part of ₹50 lakh to the applicant. There is no specific allegation that either Bhaskararaman or the applicant influenced any public servant or paid any gratification to any public servant. In fact, no overt act concerning the transaction in question has been attributed to or alleged against the applicant,” argued the plea..On May 20, the Court had directed Karti to join and cooperate with the CBI investigation within 16 hours of his return to India.