The Delhi High Court has directed the special PMLA court conducting ED proceedings against Congress Lok Sabha MP Karti Chidambaram in the AIrcel-Maxis case to defer arguments on charge.
The HC’s April 9 direction came after a plea by Karti challenging a trial court’s order in March refusing to defer hearing on framing of charges against him in the ED prosecution.
Issuing notice, Justice Ravinder Dudeja directed the trial court to defer the arguments on framing of charge in the case until the next date at the HC. The matter has been posted for consideration on May 29.
In his plea, Karti has highlighted that he will be prejudiced if the proceedings related to the money laundering charges are allowed to continue “without there being any subsisting prosecution of the underlying scheduled offence”.
He has also submitted that only after cognisance is taken and charges are framed in the predicate offence, can trial in the ED case commence. Karti’s plea also notes that the trial court failed to appreciate that if Karti is discharged or acquitted in the CBI case of the scheduled offence, the money laundering offence cannot be proceeded with.
Justice Dudeja, while granting relief to Karti, recorded that “prima facie, the discharge of the petitioner in the predicate offence would certainly have bearing on the trial of the PMLA case inasmuch as in case of discharge, there can be no offence of money laundering against him.”
CBI and ED have alleged that a company “indirectly controlled” by Karti, son of then Finance Minister P Chidambaram, received a consultancy fee of `26 lakh from Aircel Televentures Ltd (ATL) in the contemporaneous period of the FIPB approval being given to the Aircel-Maxis deal.
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The agencies have alleged that the company, Advantage Strategic Consulting Pvt Ltd, was run by Karti through his aides as directors.
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