New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Thursday (February 6) fixed April 16 to hear a plea filed by Congress Member of Parliament (MP) Karti Chidambaram seeking to quash a First Information Report (FIR) registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) against him for allegedly giving relief to a liquor company Diageo Scotland over a ban on the duty-free sale of its whisky.
Justice Vikas Mahajan deferred the hearing on Karti Chidambaram’s plea after lawyer representing the Congress MP said that the arguing counsel was not available.
“Renotify on April 16,” the High Court said.
Karti Chidambaram, while claiming that the CBI FIR was malafide and borne out of “political vendetta and regime revenge”, has said in his plea before the High Court that there was a “gross delay” by the CBI in registration of the FIR on January 1.
What has Karti Chidambaram said in his petition before High Court?
“There is gross delay in registration of the impugned FIR in as much as the allegations pertain to the period of 2004-2010 (as per the FIR) whereas the subject FIR has been registered in 2025, i.e., after 20 years,” Karti Chidambaram has alleged in his plea before the High Court.
The plea has claimed that none of the offences alleged against him were even prima facie made out and has said that the said FIR was registered against unidentified public servants without obtaining prior approval from the competent authority and hence, the registration of the FIR was unlawful and any inquiry or investigation was also illegal.
What has the CBI alleged?
The CBI registered the fresh case against Karti Chidambaram on January 1 for allegedly lifting a ban imposed on Diageo Scotland by India Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC) on duty-free sale of its whisky.
What did Karti Chidambaram earlier claim before a trial court?
Karti Chidambarm earlier moved before a trial court seeking anticipatory bail and claimed that the “Subject FIR (by CBI) is mala fide and is borne out of political vendetta” and that the CBI is acting at the behest of the Centre to malign his and his father P Chidambaram’s reputation.
The trial court, while hearing his anticipatory bail plea, had on January 10 directed the CBI to give a three-day prior written notice to him in the corruption case.
