Six others also face action in Chinese visa scam case
New Delhi: A Delhi court on Tuesday ordered the framing of charges for criminal conspiracy and corruption against Congress MP Karti P Chidambaram and six others in connection with the Chinese visa scam case, saying there was a prima facie case against them.
The court, however, discharged one accused, Chetan Shrivastava, saying there was no evidence against him.
In October 2024, the CBI had filed a chargesheet against Karti Chidambaram and others in connection with alleged bribery in facilitating visas of Chinese nationals for a power company, Talwandi Sabo Power Limited (TSPL), in 2011, when his father P Chidambaram was the Union home minister. Besides Karti Chidambaram, the Lok Sabha MP from Sivaganga, the CBI had named his alleged close associate and chartered accountant, S Bhaskararaman, Talawandi Sabo Power Ltd (TSPL), a subsidiary of Vedanta, and Mumbai-based Bell Tools, through which bribes were allegedly routed.
In a 98-page order, special judge Dig Vinay Singh underlined that at the stage of framing charges, a mini-trial was not required, and the court had to only consider whether the material collected by the investigating agency reflected a strong suspicion or a prima facie case against the accused persons.
“At this stage of framing the charge, the approver’s statement must be accepted without questioning its authenticity, as that will be examined during trial. The material presented by the prosecution must be accepted at face value at this stage,” the court said.
It said that no doubt the evidence of an accomplice was of tainted character and very weak, but the court could accept it as substantive evidence and enquire, provided it was materially corroborated.
Noting the allegations against Karti Chidambaram, the court said that the approver approached him in Chennai to obtain 800 additional project visas for TSPL, believing he had contacts in the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) because of his father.
It noted that the approver allegedly met Karti Chidambaram and S Bhaskaraman in Karti’s Chennai office in June 2011 to discuss the visa requirements, following which Karti Chidambaram instructed the approver to discuss the necessary details with Bhaskaraman.
The court said that, according to the allegations, Bhaskaraman subsequently demanded and obtained a bribe, and after a bribe of Rs 50 lakh was paid, the approver even called Karti Chidambaram to thank him, following which he affirmed that the payment had been received.
It noted that Chidambaram had allegedly received through emails a copy of the request letter sent by TSPL to the MHA, an attachment containing the request letter for visa reuse submitted by the approver, and the MHA approval letter for the re-use of visas.
These emails were sent or forwarded by his chartered accountant, the court said, noting the allegations.
It said, “The above-mentioned facts of Accused 2 (Karti Chidambaram) meeting the approver in the presence of Accused 1 (Bhaskaraman) at Chennai, and telling the approver to explain his requirement, followed by the subsequent demand and payment and telephonic conversations regarding receipt of amount, as well as exchange of crucial documents, are cited (by the CBI) as demonstrating a meeting of minds to achieve a common objective.”
