10/24/2019 Charging Chidambaram: On INX Media case - The Hindu

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EDITORIAL

Charging Chidambaram: On INX Media case

OCTOBER 21, 2019 00:02 IST
UPDATED: OCTOBER 21, 2019 00:23 IST

After CBI charge sheet, questions on need for arrest in cases turning on
documentary proof

T he CBI charge sheet against former Union Minister P. Chidambaram, his son Karti P.
Chidambaram, and others does not contain any new material to add to the narrative of its
2017 FIR in the INX Media foreign investment case. If there is anything new, it is the claim
that the probe is continuing, through letters rogatory sent to some countries, to ascertain
whether payments worth ₹3.20 crore were received by the accused. This means that apart
from a payment of ₹9.96 lakh by cheque to a consultancy firm, there is no evidence of
anything amounting to a bribe having been paid. The basic charge is that Mr. Karti
Chidambaram used his influence to get officials of the FIPB to ignore excess overseas
investments received by INX Media (P) Ltd., and grant post facto approval for a downstream
investment made by this company in INX News (P) Ltd. And that this was done for a paid
consideration of about ₹10 lakh; that he made a further demand of $1 million; and that INX
Media received invoices raised in the name of companies allegedly controlled by Mr. Karti
Chidambaram for services that were not rendered. Mr. P. Chidambaram’s role is sought to
be proved through the statement of Indrani Mukerjea, who was an INX Media director, and
is undergoing trial for the alleged murder of her daughter. Now an approver, she has
implicated Mr. P. Chidambaram by claiming to have met him for sorting out issues raised
by the FIPB and that he had asked her for some quid pro quo. However, it is clear that her
ex-husband and co-accused in the murder case, Peter Mukerjea, has not corroborated her
statement, leading the CBI to complain that he was not ‘cooperating’ with the probe.
Further, the CBI alleges that Mr. Chidambaram had not acted on complaints that INX Media
had received overseas investments worth ₹403 crore, whereas its approval was for just
₹4.62 crore. In law, this assertion does not, in any way, lend weight to, or substantiate, the
bribery allegation.

The final report also throws light on the alleged role of officials in enabling apparent
irregularities. The officials charge-sheeted may have a case to answer on questions such as
why they allowed the company to receive investment at premium value of the shares
issued to foreign investors instead of their face value, although it is unlikely that such
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questions impinging on policy can lead Load

to1credible prosecution unless a quid pro quo can
new message
be proved. As all this ultimately turns on documentary evidence and legal questions on
whether the FIPB’s handling was in line with extant policy, a question arises about the need
for Mr. P. Chidambaram’s arrest and prolonged incarceration. There are serious doubts
whether an offence has been established for the Enforcement Directorate to launch a
money-laundering probe into “proceeds of crime’’, considering that the ED itself has stated
in a provisional attachment order, dated October 10, 2018, against Mr. Karti Chidambaram
that ‘’the company [INX Media] has clarified from the records that the payments [of ₹3.5
crore] have not been made against these invoices’’ allegedly raised by the accused. The ED
recently arrested Mr. Chidambaram for custodial interrogation, extending deprivation of
his liberty even further. It needs to answer why he was not questioned in the time he has
spent in CBI and judicial custody. Apart from proving its case on merits, the CBI and the ED
are duty-bound to show that they use arrest as an aid to investigation — and not as a
punitive measure before the trial stage to please political masters.

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Printable version | Oct 24, 2019 12:26:28 PM |

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chidambaram/article29752727.ece
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