New Delhi: Former finance minister P Chidambaram’s son and Congress MP, Karti Chidambaram, has been booked by CBI in a fresh corruption case related to giving alleged relief to alcoholic beverage company Diageo Scotland.
In 2018, the CBI had initiated a Preliminary Inquiry (PE) against Karti Chidambaram, Advantage Strategic Private Limited (ASPL), ‘an entity controlled’ by Karti and his close aide S Bhaskararaman and other unidentified individuals for alleged payments by Diageo Scotland and Sequoia Capitals.
‘Transfer of secret funds’
During the probe, the CBI found that Diageo Scotland and Sequoia Capital had secretly transferred funds to the account of Advantage Strategic Private Limited .
ASPL is the same firm that was under the scrutiny of CBI and Enforcement Directorate (ED) in the INX Media case. The company’s name also surfaced in cases related to illegally securing Indian visas for Chinese workers.
Karti and P Chidambaram arrested in 2018
CBI had arrested Karti Chidambaram in 2018. Later, CBI and ED also arrested Karti’s father P Chidambaram. CBI had alleged that Diageo Scotland had contacted Karti and transferred a sum of $15,000 to ASPL to remove the restrictions on the company.
Diageo Scotland imports Johnnie Walker brand of liquor in India. In 2005, ITDC, which held a monopoly on selling imported duty-free liquor in the country, selected Diageo to sell duty-free products which resulted in a 70 per cent loss in the sales of Johnnie Walker whiskey.
Notably, the father-son duo had alleged that action was being initiated against them at the behest of BJP government due to political vendetta. The two had completely denied the corruption charges. With CBI registering a fresh corruption case against Karti Chidambaram, his troubles are likely to increase further.
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