Court allows Karti Chidambaram to travel abroad

New Delhi: A Delhi court on Tuesday allowed Congress lawmaker Karti Chidambaram to travel abroad.

Special CBI Judge Ajay Kumar Kuhar allowed him to travel to the UK and France. He will, however, have to provide a copy of his itinerary to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) before leaving the country.

Karti’s lawyers Arshdeep Khurana and Akshat Gupta had sought permission for his travel to the UK and France from February 17 to March 1.

He, along with his father and former Union Minister P. Chidambaram, are currently out on anticipatory bail in the Aircel-Maxis case. While granting them anticipatory bail, the court had imposed a restriction on their travel. The court had directed them not to leave the country without its prior permission.

In the plea, he said he wanted to travel abroad to attend an international tennis tournament and important business meetings. He also sought permission to meet his daughter in University of Cambridge in the UK.

The case relates to alleged irregularities in the grant of Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) approval in the Aircel-Maxis deal. The court had last month revived the case again after it was adjourned sine die.

The FIPB approval was granted in 2006 when P. Chidambaram was the Union Finance Minister.

According to rules and the foreign direct investment policy in force at that time, Chidambaram was allegedly empowered to give approval to proposals involving foreign investment only up to Rs 600 crore.

It is alleged that Chidambaram withheld Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) clearance of the deal until his son, Karti Chidambaram received the five-per cent share in the company.

IANS