Indrani Mukerjea’s plea to turn approver in the INX Media corruption case involving former finance minister P Chidambaram and his son Karti Chidambaram was today accepted by a Delhi CBI court.
The CBI endorsed her application saying that the co-owner of INX group was privy to evidence, which could help consolidate the case.
Special judge Arun Bhardwaj pardoned Indrani Mukerjea, a co-accused in the INX media case after she submitted that she voluntarily agreed to become an approver in the case.
The court has issued a production warrant for Indrani who is currently placed in Mumbai’s Byculla Jail awaiting trial for the murder of her daughter Sheena Bora.
The next date of hearing in the matter is July 11.
Last year, Indrani Mukerjea had made a sensational revelation accusing Chidambaram of trying to use his influence to get Indrani to pay a bribe to Karti to the tune of 1 million dollars. Indrani Mukerjea has claimed that she had met P Chidambaram at North Block in Central Secretariat.
The CBI had filed an FIR on May 15, 2017, against the alleged irregularities in FIPB clearance to INX Media.
Both P Chidambaram and his son Karti Chidambaram are accused in the INX Media scam which involves charges of bribery and lobbying in granting foreign investments worth Rs 300 crores to INX Media. INX Media was later known as NewsX, it was owned by Peter and Indrani Mukerjea, who are accused in the sensational Sheena Bora murder case. ED had initiated a probe on the basis of the Central Bureau of Investigation’s FIR. Chidambaram is accused of misusing his power as the finance minister to grant INX Media an FIPB clearance.
Karti was arrested by agencies last year in February for allegedly lobbying for the Mukerjeas, in order to get FIPB clearance from Finance Ministry, which at the time was under his father. The ED had also attached properties and bank deposits of Karti Chidambaram worth around Rs.54 crores in connection with the case in October last year.
Last Month, the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) gave permission to prosecute four former Congress era finance ministry officers, including former NITI Aayog CEO Sindhushree Khullar, former secretary of the Ministry of Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises Anup K Pujari and current principal secretary in the Himachal Pradesh government, Prabodh Saxena for their involvement in the INX media corruption case.