INX Media case: PMLA tribunal dismisses Karti Chidambaram’s plea against ED attachment of properties

An appellate tribunal under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act has dismissed an appeal filed by Congress MP Karti P Chidambaram against the Enforcement Directorate attaching his properties and bank accounts in the INX Media money laundering case, Bar and Bench reported.

The central agency had attached several of the MP’s bank accounts and his share in a South Delhi property in an order issued in October 2018. A year later, the adjudicating authority under the PMLA upheld the attachment of the properties.

The case pertains to alleged irregularities in the clearance of the Foreign Investment Promotion Board’s Foreign Direct Investment – the government’s approval for foreign investment – to INX Media in 2007 when P Chidambaram, the father of Karti Chidambaram, was the Union finance minister.

Karti Chidambaram had challenged the attachment of his properties before the appellate tribunal, contending that the order was bad in law as the Enforcement Directorate had filed the prosecution complaint against him more than 365 days after the confirmation of attachment, Bar and Bench reported.

This violated Section 8(3)(a) of the PMLA, which limits the attachment period to 365 days during an investigation, the appeal said. The delay required the release of the attached properties, it added.

But the central agency contended that the delay was caused by the Covid-19 limitations, as directed...

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