Karti Chidambaram is alleged to have received Rs 50 lakh to illegally facilitate visas for 263 Chinese nationals to complete work on a power project in Punjab.
Speaking to reporters before appearing before the ED, Chidambaram noted that it was his 20th appearance before the central agency, adding that it has become a ‘routine affair’.
“This is my 20th visit to the ED office. It is becoming a routine affair. They ask the same things, and I give the same answers. It is a dead, dormant and closed case. The CBI has practically closed this matter but they (ED) want to reopen it and question me in connection with it,” the Congress leader told ANI.
He added that his lawyers have submitted a 100-page reply in connection with the case.
“My lawyers have already replied extensively and given them a 100-page reply. I’ll repeat the same. It is the season of Christmas and it appears that they missed and, hence, summoned me again. We are here to exchange Christmas greetings (with the ED),” Karti said.The central agency filed a money laundering case in the alleged Chinese visa scam case in May last year.”The ED has filed a case under the criminal sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, taking cognisance of a recent First Information Report registered by the CBI in the case,” an official said earlier.
The CBI alleged that the MP ‘misused his influence’ in the Ministry of Home Affairs in 2011 and ‘conspired’ with the co-accused to devise a “back-door way to defeat the purpose of the ceiling” on work permits imposed by the ministry.
Besides the MP, the CBI booked four other people, including Karti’s chartered accountant S. Bhaskararaman, Vikas Makharia, a representative of Talwandi Sabo Power Ltd, a Mansa-based private company, and Bell Tools, Mumbai along with ‘unknown public servants and private individuals.