Karti Chidambaram was closing his foreign bank account: CBI tells Supreme Court

NEW DELHI: Karti Chidambaram has confessed to having one bank account abroad, but he operated several more which were closed during his last foreign trip, the CBI told the Supreme Court on Friday. Karti is accused of receiving money for facilitating a Foreign Investment Promotion Board approval for INX Media when his father, P Chidambaram, was finance minister.

CBI had issued the lookout notice after he refused to appear for questioning. The Madras High Court stayed the notice, but the Supreme Court lifted the stay and directed him to cooperate in the investigations if he wanted court permission to travel abroad. He appeared before the CBI for questioning twice, but did not do so on a third date.

Appearing for the CBI on Friday before a three-judge bench led by Chief Justice Dipak Misra, additional solicitor general Tushar Mehta said Karti Chidambaram “possibly wants to move fast to another country”, as he urged the court to let the lookout notice stay for now. The bench posted the matter for final hearing on October 4. Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for Chidambaram, denied charges and instead accused the CBI of acting mala fide.