INX Media money laundering case: Delhi Court exempts personal appearance of P Chidambaram, Karti Chidambaram

A Special Court in Delhi on Wednesday exempted former Union Minister P Chidambaram and his son Karti Chidambaram from personal appearance in the INX Media money laundering case..Exemption from appearance was sought on the ground that the two Members of Parliament were "star campaigners" in the recently concluded Tamil Nadu Assembly elections..Special CBI Judge at Rouse Avenue Court NK Nagpal also exempted the physical appearance of another accused S Bhaskaraman on account of COVID-19..Exemption from personal appearance was also granted to the authorised representatives of some of the accused companies. All exemptions were granted only for today..The Court had issued notice to all accused in the INX Media money laundering case after taking cognizance of the Enforcement Directorate's chargesheet..Accused Peter Mukherjea appeared in person before the Court and moved a bail application in the case..While directing supply of copies of the chargesheet to all accused, the Court listed the matter for scrutiny of documents on April 16. Mukherjea's bail application will also be heard on the same day..The case pertains to alleged irregularities in the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) clearance granted to INX Media at the time when P Chidambaram was Union Finance Minister. It is the case of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) that P Chidambaram and his son Karti had received illegal gratification from INX Media owners Peter and Indrani Mukherjea for the clearance..Indrani Mukherjea, Peter Mukherjea's wife and prime accused in the Sheena Bora murder case, is an approver in the present case..INX Media Pvt Ltd, Advantage Strategic companies, Kriya FMCG Distributors Pvt Ltd, and North Star Software Solutions are also named in the chargesheet..P Chidambaram was arrested by the CBI from his residence in relation to the case on August 21, 2019, a day after his plea for anticipatory bail was rejected by the Delhi High Court. The High Court had opined that prima facie, the allegations were serious in nature and that Chidambaram had played a “key and active role”..After nearly two months, Chidambaram was granted bail by the Supreme Court in the case filed by the CBI. He was finally released from Tihar Jail after the Supreme Court granted him bail in the ED case on December 4, 2019..Karti was granted interim bail in the case by the Delhi High Court in March 2018..The Special CBI Court had taken cognizance of the CBI's chargesheet against Chidambaram, Karti and others on October 21, 2019. Cognizance of the ED's chargesheet was taken on March 24 this year, with the Court opining that there were sufficient material and grounds for proceeding against all ten accused.