CBI files charge sheet against Karti Chidambaram in Chinese workers’ visa scam
The charge sheet was filed against Karti Chidambaram and others for alleged bribery in facilitating visas to Chinese nationals for a power company in 2011.
- Oct 17, 2024,
- Updated Oct 17, 2024 4:48 PM IST
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has filed a charge sheet against Congress MP Karti Chidambaram in connection with the Chinese nationals visa scam. The charge sheet was filed against the MP and others for alleged bribery in facilitating visas to Chinese nationals for a power company in 2011. His father, P Chidambaram, was the union home minister at that time.
The CBI has named Chidambaram, along with his alleged close associate S Bhaskararaman, Viral Mehta, Anup Agarwal, Mansoor Siddiqui and Chetan Shrivastava, company Talawandi Sabo Power Ltd (TSPL), a subsidiary of Vedanta and Mumbai-based Bell Tools. Bribes were allegedly routed through the company, the agency said. Charges of criminal conspiracy, cheating, and forgery have been invoked against the accused.
The charge sheet comes after two years of probe into its FIR, which was registered in 2022. The CBI had alleged that Punjab-based TSPL set up a 1980 MW thermal power plant, for which work was outsourced to Chinese company, Shandong Electric Power Construction Corp (SEPCO).
The project was reportedly running behind schedule and the company was facing prospects of a penalty. In order to avoid the penalty, TSPL tried to bring in more Chinese individuals for the site at Mansa, for which they needed visas over and above the ceiling imposed by the Ministry of Home Affairs, as per the CBI in 2022.
A TSPL executive approached Karti Chidambaram through Bhaskararaman to bypass the ceiling by granting permission to re-use 263 project visas allotted to the Chinese company's officials.
As per the guidelines, deviation in rare and exceptional cases could be considered, but the deviation in terms of re-use of project visas is likely to be approved by the then Home Minister, the CBI alleged.
Bhaskararaman demanded an illegal gratification of Rs 50 lakh for ensuring the approval, the FIR alleged.
The FIR had alleged that the payment of said bribe was routed from TSP to Karti Chidambaram and Bhaskararaman through Mumbai-based Bell Tools Ltd with payments camouflaged under two invoices raised for consultancy and out-of-pocket expenses for Chinese visas-related works, the CBI FIR said, adding that the TSPL executive had later thanked Karti Chidambaram and Bhaskararaman on email.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has filed a charge sheet against Congress MP Karti Chidambaram in connection with the Chinese nationals visa scam. The charge sheet was filed against the MP and others for alleged bribery in facilitating visas to Chinese nationals for a power company in 2011. His father, P Chidambaram, was the union home minister at that time.
The CBI has named Chidambaram, along with his alleged close associate S Bhaskararaman, Viral Mehta, Anup Agarwal, Mansoor Siddiqui and Chetan Shrivastava, company Talawandi Sabo Power Ltd (TSPL), a subsidiary of Vedanta and Mumbai-based Bell Tools. Bribes were allegedly routed through the company, the agency said. Charges of criminal conspiracy, cheating, and forgery have been invoked against the accused.
The charge sheet comes after two years of probe into its FIR, which was registered in 2022. The CBI had alleged that Punjab-based TSPL set up a 1980 MW thermal power plant, for which work was outsourced to Chinese company, Shandong Electric Power Construction Corp (SEPCO).
The project was reportedly running behind schedule and the company was facing prospects of a penalty. In order to avoid the penalty, TSPL tried to bring in more Chinese individuals for the site at Mansa, for which they needed visas over and above the ceiling imposed by the Ministry of Home Affairs, as per the CBI in 2022.
A TSPL executive approached Karti Chidambaram through Bhaskararaman to bypass the ceiling by granting permission to re-use 263 project visas allotted to the Chinese company's officials.
As per the guidelines, deviation in rare and exceptional cases could be considered, but the deviation in terms of re-use of project visas is likely to be approved by the then Home Minister, the CBI alleged.
Bhaskararaman demanded an illegal gratification of Rs 50 lakh for ensuring the approval, the FIR alleged.
The FIR had alleged that the payment of said bribe was routed from TSP to Karti Chidambaram and Bhaskararaman through Mumbai-based Bell Tools Ltd with payments camouflaged under two invoices raised for consultancy and out-of-pocket expenses for Chinese visas-related works, the CBI FIR said, adding that the TSPL executive had later thanked Karti Chidambaram and Bhaskararaman on email.