Appear before CBI on Aug 23, SC tells Karti

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, August 18

The Supreme Court on Friday asked senior Congress leader and former Finance Minister P Chidambaram’s son Karti Chidambaram to appear before the CBI on August 23 for interrogation in connection with a corruption case.

A Bench headed by Chief Justice of India JS Khehar, however, allowed him to have by his side a lawyer who would not be within hearing distance during his interrogation by the CBI.

The CBI will interrogate Karti in connection with alleged irregularities in the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) clearance to INX Media for receiving overseas funds when his father was the Union Finance Minister in 2007.

Karti alleged he was being unnecessarily harassed and that the real target was his father. Senior counsel Gopal Subramanium told the SC on his behalf that it had become the fashion to target relatives of opposition politicians. But the court was not impressed. “Do you want to say you are so good that you don’t want to appear before the CBI?” the CJI commented.