INX media case: BJP says P Chidambaram "orchestrated" corruption

New Delhi, Mar 1: The BJP on Thursday lashed out at former finance minister P Chidambaram over the INX Media case in which his son Karti was arrested on Wednesday, saying the statement of co-accused Indrani Mukerjea shows that he had "facilitated and orchestrated this corruption".

"This is a serious act of economic corruption and financial misdemeanour, and the former finance minister is directly in the line of fire with deposition of Indrani Mukherjee. This is an open and shut case of political corruption," BJP spokesperson G V L Narasimha Rao said.

Citing Indrani Mukerjea's statement to the CBI, he said "The former finance minister has himself facilitated and orchestrated this corruption."

Rao also asked the Congress to answer serious questions related to the case as he dismissed its claim of political vendetta as the most "cliched excuse" given by all those accused of acts of political corruption. Facts of the case show, he claimed, that private gains were made by INX media, and Karti and his company as government process was subverted to help them.

Karti Chidambaram was arrested by the CBI at Chennai Airport on his return from the United Kingdom yesterday in connection with the FIR lodged on May 15 last year alleging irregularities in the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) clearance to INX Media for receiving overseas funds to the tune of Rs 305 crore in 2007 when his father was the union finance minister.

PTI