The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has submitted the prosecution sanction order against senior Congress leader P. Chidambaram to the Special Rose Avenue Court in New Delhi. The order, received from the competent authority, is related to the alleged money laundering case involving INX Media. The ED aims to expedite the trial by presenting this order.
The investigation under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, was initiated by the ED based on an FIR filed by the CBI in 2017. The probe revealed that during P. Chidambaram’s tenure as the Union Finance Minister, approval was granted to INX Media Private Limited by the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB). Illegal gratification was allegedly demanded and received in exchange for this approval.
According to the ED, illicit funds were channeled through shell entities controlled by Karti Chidambaram, P. Chidambaram’s son. These funds were then moved through complex financial transactions across various jurisdictions and eventually integrated into different companies. Karti Chidambaram and his associates are accused of acting on behalf of P. Chidambaram in this scheme.
The ED has quantified the total proceeds of crime in this case at nearly Rs 65.88 crore. Assets worth Rs 53.93 crore were provisionally attached by the ED in 2018, followed by an additional Rs 11.04 crore in 2023. The agency is striving to accelerate the trial proceedings in this matter.
