New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday directed the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to fix a date for the interrogation of senior Congress leader P Chidambaram’s son Karti in the INX Media and the Aircel Maxis cases.
A bench comprising of Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justice Sanjiv Khanna was hearing Karti’s plea seeking permission to travel to France, Spain, Germany and the United Kingdom in the coming months, for tennis tournaments organized by ‘Totus Tennis Limited’ – a UK registered company.
Giving the ED the deadline of January 30, the bench asked Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, who was appearing on behalf of the ED, to give the date on which the probe agency will question Karti. It further said that Karti will not be granted permission to leave country if he evades questioning by the ED.
“We will ensure both. We will ensure that he appears before you (ED) and he goes for his tennis assignment,” the bench said adding, “No tennis for him if he evades”.
The ED had earlier filed an affidavit opposing to Karti’s plea to travel abroad, adding that he was out of country for 51 days in the last six months. It maintained that Karti has been “evasive, non-cooperative and caused delay in completing the probe.”
The apex court will now hear Karti’s plea, seeking permission to travel abroad, on January 30.
Karti is facing criminal cases being investigated by the ED, one of which relates to Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) clearance to INX Media for receiving foreign funds of Rs 305 crore when his father was the finance minister.
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