Big relief to Congress MP Karti Chidambaram, CBI court stays arrest till May 30

A special CBI court has granted interim relief from arrest to Congress MP Karti Chidambaram in a case registered by the Enforcement Directorate in the Chinese visa case. The court has given this interim protection till May 30. The Congress leader is accused of scamming 263 Chinese nationals for getting visas. The alleged scam happened when his father P Chidambaram was the Home Minister.

Karti Chidambaram was ordered by a special court to join the CBI investigation within 16 hours of his arrival from the UK and Europe. Karti had gone abroad with the permission of the Supreme Court and the special court. He returned from his tour on Wednesday, after which he reached the CBI office on Thursday morning to answer questions related to the case.

The case pertains to allegations that Karti and his close aide S Bhaskararaman were given Rs 50 lakh as bribe by a top official of Vedanta Group company Talwandi Sabo Power Ltd (TSPL), which was setting up a power plant in Punjab.

According to the CBI FIR, a TSPL executive had sought re-issuance of project visas to 263 Chinese workers for which Rs 50 lakh was allegedly exchanged.