Visa Scam: ED Assures Delhi HC Of No Coercive Action Against Karti Till 12 July

The court scheduled further hearing on 12 July at the joint request of counsel for Karti Chidambaram and the ED.

Karti Chidambaram

(Photo: PTI)

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday, 24 June, assured the Delhi High Court that no coercive action will be taken against Congress MP Karti Chidambaram until 12 July in connection with the alleged Chinese visa scam case.

Additional Solicitor General SV Raju, appearing on behalf of the ED, told the court that no action will be taken until the date of Karti’s anticipatory bail plea hearing on 12 July, reported LiveLaw.

''I will not make a statement but it is understood that nothing will happen till then. My understanding is only till the 12th (July),'' he said.

The court scheduled further hearing on 12 July at the joint request of counsel for Karti and the ED.

A vacation bench, comprising of Justice Jasmeet Singh, asked to file a status report on the matter before the next date of hearing.

Karti had approached the high ourt after he was denied anticipatory bail, and of two others, by the trial court on 3 June, on grounds that the offence was of a serious nature.

What Is the Case?

Karti Chidambaram, along with others, has been accused of helping Chinese nationals get visas by flouting rules.

The ED has filed the money laundering case against the Lok Sabha MP, his close aide S Bhaskararaman, and others in connection with alleged foreign remittances between 2010 and 2014, when his father P Chidambaram was the Union Finance Minister.

According to the FIR, Karti and his associate S Bhaskararaman received remittances from a top executive of Vedanta Group company Talwandi Sabo Power Ltd (TSPL), which was tasked with establishing a power plant in Punjab.

Officials had indicated that the MP allegedly aided in granting visas to 250 Chinese nationals for the project, after receiving illegal payments of Rs 50 lakh

(With inputs from LiveLaw.)