Visas To Chinese Firm Beyond Celing, CBI Raids Premsies Of Karti Chidambaram & Others
Chennai, May 17: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) today conducted raids at the premises of former Union Minister P. Chidambaram’s son and Lok Sabha MP Karti Chidamarm and five others following allegations, including bribery, to facilitate issuance of visas to a Chinese company beyond ceiling.
CBI registered a fresh case case against five accused including private persons based at Chennai, Mumbai, private companies based at Mumbai, Mansa (Punjab) and unknown public servants and private persons.
CBI said the cases were registered against Karti P. Chidambaram, Chennai, S. Bhaskararaman (close associate) also based in Chennai, Vikas Makharia, representing Mansa (Punjab-based private company), M/s Talwandi Sabo Power Limited, Mansa (Punjab), M/s Bell Tools Limited, Mumbai (Maharashtra) and unknown public servant(s) and private person(s).
Searches are being conducted at around 10 places including in Chennai, Mumbai, Koppal (Karnataka), Jharsuguda (Orissa), Mansa (Punjab) and Delhi etc, a CBI release said.
It has been alleged that the private company based at Mansa was in the process of establishing a 1980 MW thermal power plant at Mansa (Punjab) and establishing of plant was outsourced to a Chinese Company.
It has been further alleged that the project was running behind its schedule. In order to avoid penal actions for the delay, the private company was trying to bring more and more Chinese persons/professionals for their site at district Mansa (Punjab) and needed Project VISAs over and above the ceiling imposed by Ministry of Home Affairs.
It has also been alleged that for the said purpose, the Representative of the private company approached a person based at Chennai through his close associate/front man and thereafter they devised a back-door way to defeat the purpose of ceiling (maximum of Project VISAs permissible to the company’s plant) by granting permission to re-use 263 Project VISAs allotted to the said Chinese company’s officials.
It has been alleged that in pursuance of the same, the said representative of Mansa based private company submitted a letter to Ministry of Home Affairs seeking approval to re-use the Project VISAs allotted to this company, which was approved within a month and permission was issued to the company.
A bribe of Rs. 50 lakh was allegedly demanded by the said private person based in Chennai through his close associate/Front man which was paid by the said Mansa based firm. It has been further alleged that the payment of said bribe was routed from the company to said private person of Chennai and his close associate/Front man through a Mumbai based company as payment of false invoice raised for Consultancy and out of pocket expenses for Chinese VISAs related works whereas the private company based at Mumbai was never in any kind of work relating to VISAs rather it was in an entirely different business of industrial knives. Investigation is continuing.
