New Delhi > Karti Chidambaram, son of senior Congress leader P Chidambaram who is in jail in the INX Media corruption case, today got bail from the Delhi High Court which said the relief should not be refused unless the crime is of the "highest magnitude" entailing "severe punishment".The reasons that weighed in with Justice S P Garg for granting bail to Karti, who was arrested on February 28, were that there appeared no possibility of him fleeing from justice, as his parents were senior advocates, he had a family to take care of, has roots in the society and was not a previous convict.
The high court also said that while there was "incriminating evidence" of a "nexus" between his then company Chess Management Services (P) Ltd (CMS) and Advantage Strategic Consulting (P) Ltd (ASC), which had received payment of Rs 10 lakh for allegedly facilitating the FIPB clearance to INX Media, it was not sufficient to deny bail to Karti as the payment was duly accounted for in the company records and was received by a cheque. It, however, said that it was a matter of trial as to who was the ultimate beneficiary of the amount and added that "no credible evidence has been produced on record regarding the exact relationship of the petitioner (Karti) with ASC".
The high court granted him bail subject to his furnishing a personal bond of Rs 10 lakh with one surety of the like amount to the satisfaction of the Special CBI court. While granting him the relief, the court also imposed several conditions including that he would not leave India without prior permission of the trial court, he would not close any of his bank accounts in India or abroad without prior intimation to CBI, would not change the entity or composition of any business concerns with which he is associated without first informing the agency and shall be available for joining the investigation whenever required.
The high court also directed Karti not to contact prosecution witnesses or tamper with evidence or criminally intimidate any witness in any manner. Karti was arrested from Chennai in connection with an FIR lodged on May 15 last year, alleging irregularities in a Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) clearance given to INX Media for receiving funds of about Rs 305 crore from overseas in 2007 when his father was the Union finance minister. The CBI had initially alleged that Karti received Rs 10 lakh as a bribe for facilitating the FIPB clearance to INX Media. It had later revised the figure to USD 1 million (about Rs 6.50 crore at the current exchange rate and Rs 4.5 crore in 2007). In its 27-page order, the high court said no explanation has been offered by the CBI for the "inordinate delay in lodging the FIR". It also noted that according to the recorded statements of FIPB officers who were at the helm of affairs of the Board at the relevant time, they do "not attribute or assign any specific and definite role to the petitioner in the crime".
"None of the senior officers claimed to have ever been approached or influenced in the grant of approvals by the petitioner. The said senior officers did not name any official in the FIPB who was ever prevailed upon by the petitioner or his associates to impact their decision."During the entire investigation, none of the public servants have been identified or apprehended so far who was allegedly approached or influenced by the petitioner to scuttle the action against INX Media for the irregularities or illegalities committed by them," the high court said.
Karti's lawyers, during arguments, had contended that no case under the Prevention of Corruption Act was made out against him since the CBI had neither questioned any public servant, nor made them an accused in the matter. Fresh evidence in the case, which triggered Karti's arrest, was based on a statement of Indrani Mukerjea, former director of INX Media (P) Ltd, who recorded it under Section 164 of the CrPC before a magistrate on February 17. Indrani is currently lodged in a Mumbai prison in connection with the case of murder of her daughter Sheena Bora.
Referring to the fresh evidence, the high court has said that "in her statement, she did not offer any reasonable explanation for not implicating the petitioner and others at the earliest".It also noted that Indranins husband, Pratim Mukherjea (also known as Peter Mukherjea), who is stated to be one of the accused in the corruption case has not yet been arrested and neither has his statement been recorded.
