The Madras High Court on Monday completed the hearing and reserved orders on a petition filed by Karti Chidambaram and his four friends seeking to quash the look Out Circular issued against them by the Bureau of Immigration in a case connected with foreign exchange violation by INX Media, a TV network owned by Indranee Mukerjee and Peter Mukherjee.
A division bench consisting of Chief Justice Indira Banerjee and Justice Abdul Quddhose heard G Rajagopal, the Assistant Solicitor General who explained the details behind the lOC issued by the BOI. When the case had come for hearing last week, Rajagopal had sought time till Monday to get instructions from the BOI about the lOC.
The petitioners are scheduled to leave for Britain and France between February 15 and 28 and between March 20 and 31. The petition in Madras High Court was filed as per the directives of the Supreme Court which had told Kari and friends to get their petition considered by the High Court.
The case related to the kickbacks alleged to have received by Advantage Strategic Consulting from INX Media for scuttling a probe by the Department of Revenue into allegations of INX Media receiving foreign funds of Rs 305 crore without approval by the concerned agencies of the Union Government when Chidambaram was the Finance Minister of the country. Karti and his friends are being probed by the CBI in this case.