Cash-for-visa: Enforcement Directorate lodges case against Karti Chidambaram

New Delhi, May 25

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has registered a case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act against Congress MP Karti Chidambaram and others in connection with alleged irregularities committed in the issuance of visas to 263 Chinese nationals in 2011, when his father P Chidambaram was the Union Home Minister, officials said.

The agency registered the case under the PMLA after perusing a recent CBI FIR against Karti and others. According to the CBI FIR, the case pertains to allegations of Rs 50 lakh being paid as kickbacks to Karti and his close associate S Bhaskararaman by a top executive of Vedanta group company—Talwandi Sabo Power Ltd — which was setting up a power plant in Punjab.