INX case: CBI files chargesheet in HC; names Chidambaram, Karti, Indrani

The CBI filed a charge sheet before a Delhi court Friday in the INX Media corruption case accusing former finance minister P Chidambaram and others including bureaucrats of causing loss to the exchequer by allegedly committing offences under the Prevention of Corruption Act.
The charge sheet filed before Special Judge Lal Singh.

The accused in the charge sheet include Peter Mukherjea; chartered accountant S Bhaskaraman; ex-NITI Ayog CEO Sindhushree Khullar; former secretary in Ministry of Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises Anup K Pujari; Prabodh Saxena; Rabindra Prasad; INX Media; ASCL & Chess Management Services.
Accused-turned approver Indrani Mukerjea's also appears in the final report.
The report was filed under various sections of the PCA and the Indian Penal Code.
The matter will be taken up for consideration by Special Judge Ajay Kumar Kuhar on October 21.
The court on Thursday had sent Chidambaram to custodial interrogation by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) till October 24 in the INX Media money laundering case "to facilitate proper investigation in the case to reach a logical end".
Special judge Ajay Kumar Kuhar had allowed the Enforcement Directorate to quiz Chidambaram for seven days.
While seeking his 14-day custody, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for ED, had told the court that from September 6, the agency examined 12 witnesses and the last one was examined on October 9, adding that the ED also collected some more material during that period.
He said the accused himself had moved plea seeking to surrender in the case on September 5, which was then opposed by the probe agency on the ground that ED was investigating certain aspects of the money laundering which were first required to be probed for effective and meaningful custodial interrogation.
The court had also extended the judicial custody of Chidambaram till October 24 in the INX Media corruption case lodged by the CBI.
Chidambaram, who was also the Union home minister during the UPA rule, was arrested by the CBI on August 21 from his Jor Bagh residence.
The CBI had registered an FIR on May 15, 2017, alleging irregularities in the Foreign Investment Promotion Board clearance granted to the INX Media group for receiving overseas funds of Rs 305 crore in 2007 during Chidambaram's tenure as the finance minister.

India International Exchange plans to waive fee to lure rupee trade home

As India works to bring some of the burgeoning offshore rupee trading back home, the exchange that will likely spearhead the move says it’s prepared to cut trading fees to zero to take on overseas rivals.
The India International Exchange (IFSC) Ltd., also known as India INX, plans to waive commissions initially, a strategy it used to bolster liquidity in its equity and gold derivatives contracts.

“We will compete with lowest-cost access,” V. Balasubramaniam, chief executive at the bourse based in the tax-incentive zone in the GIFT City, said in an interview. “For us, the cost of running a market is much lower as manpower and infrastructure costs at the IFSC are small.”
Trading charges at the Dubai Gold & Commodities Exchange range from $0.03 to $0.1 per contract, per side on various rupee-related contracts, according to its website. The Singapore Stock Exchange charges 0.0075% of traded value as fees that exclude clearing costs.
Rupee trading onshore has been shrinking at the expense of offshore market, with volumes in London topping those in India’s financial capital Mumbai. In a bid to boost local volumes, the Reserve Bank of India this month allowed trading in rupee on venues like the IFSC and permitted banks to freely share forex rates with non-residents. Further regulatory approvals are awaited before trading starts.
The GIFT City, located in the western state of Gujarat -- the home state of Prime Minister Narendra Modi -- has been conceived as a financial hub to rival centers like Singapore and Dubai. Investors based there are exempted from levies on buying and selling of securities and capital gains tax for non-residents.
INX India, a unit of the BSE Ltd., is currently the biggest exchange in GIFT City. The National Stock Exchange of India Ltd., the nation’s top equities bourse, also has a unit in the zone.
India International Exchange plans to waive fee to lure rupee trade home
INX has had some success with equity derivatives. The monthly traded volume for its flagship India50 contract in September totaled $34.5 billion, compared with about $46 billion clocked by Singapore’s SGX Nifty Index, according to data provided by INX.
India INX’s potential clients could include foreign portfolio investors or any overseas corporate with an exposure to the rupee and needs to hedge.
“We have a good pool of brokers connected with us in IFSC who are proprietary traders or algorithmic driven traders,” Balasubramaniam said. “All these guys will add to the medley of players who can come and trade in our markets.”

SC rejects P Chidambaram's plea for anticipatory bail in INX Media case

In a setback to former Union minister P Chidambaram, the Supreme Court on Thursday refused to grant him pre-arrest bail in the INX Media money laundering case lodged by the Enforcement Directorate.
The top court dismissed Chidambaram's plea challenging the Delhi High Court verdict denying him anticipatory bail in the case, saying economic offence has to be dealt with differently as it affects economy of the country.

A bench of Justices R Banumathi and A S Bopanna said it is not a fit case to grant anticipatory bail.
Grant of anticipatory bail to Chidambaram at this stage will hamper investigation, it said.
The investigating agency has to be given sufficient freedom to conduct probe into the case, the apex court said.
It also rejected Chidambaram's application for direction to the ED to produce transcripts of his questioning conducted by the agency on three dates.
The top court said that it has power to peruse case diary even before commencement of trial and added that it has refrained from perusing documents placed before it by ED in sealed cover as it may prejudice other accused.
Anticipatory bail is not a matter of right and refusing the relief is not violation of Article 21, it said.
The apex court, however, said Chidambaram can approach the court concerned for grant of regular bail in the case.

INX Media case: SC asks trial court to consider Chidambaram's bail request

The Supreme Court Monday asked the trial court to consider P Chidambaram's request for interim bail in the INX Media corruption case after the former finance minister said that he not be sent to Tihar jail under judicial custody and offered to be in house arrest.
The apex court said if Chidambaram's request for interim bail is not considered by the trial court on Monday itself, his CBI custody would be extended by three more days.

A bench of justices R Banumathi and A S Bopanna directed CBI to file its response on Chidambaram's plea challenging the non-bailable warrant (NBW) issued against him and the subsequent orders of the trial court remanding him to CBI custody in the case.
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Chidambaram's CBI custody in the INX Media corruption case is expiring today and he will be produced before the concerned trial court during the day.
Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for Chidambaram, told the bench that the former minister was arrested pursuant to the NBW and he has been in the CBI custody for last 12 days.
"The NBW should not have been issued. Either give me (Chidambaram) interim bail or put me in house arrest. He (Chidambaram) should not be sent to Tihar Jail," Sibal said, while questioning the issuance of NBW and the subsequent orders of the trial court remanding the former minister to CBI custody.
Remand orders of the trial court can be set aside by the apex court and Chidambaram should be given interim protection till the top court decides his petition, Sibal added.
"He (Chidambaram) has to file regular bail plea," the bench said, adding, "The competent court is seized of the matter. Why should we skip the jurisdiction of the regular court and the High Court?" To this, the senior advocate said that if Chidambaram is sent to Tihar jail under judicial custody, his petition would become infructuous.
Additional Solicitor General K M Nataraj, appearing for CBI, opposed the grant of any interim protection to Chidambaram and said that an accused cannot say that he want to be in either police custody or judicial custody.
Sibal said that Chidambaram will be produced before the trial court today after expiry of his CBI custody and if he would be sent to Tihar under judicial custody, his petition before the apex court would become infructuous.
"Give me (Chidambaram) interim bail or put me in house arrest. He is a 74-year-old man and has been in CBI custody for last 12 days," Sibal said.
The bench said that Chidambaram can make a request in this regard before the trial court.
Sibal said however that the trial court would "reject" his request and the top court should give him protection till the pending petition is decided.
The bench, after hearing the submissions, directed Chidambaram to approach the trial court seeking appropriate relief in accordance with the law, including prayer for interim bail.
It said in case the prayer for interim bail is not considered by the concerned court, then Chidambaram's CBI custody will be extended by three more days.
The bench said it would hear Chidambaram's plea on September 5.

INX media case: CBI court extends Chidambaram's custody till September 2

A Delhi Court extended by three days the CBI custody of P Chidambaram, arrested in a corruption case arising from the INX Media scam.
He will be in the CBI custody till September 2.

The order was passed by Special Judge Ajay Kumar Kuhar before whom Chidambaram was produced on expiry of four-day custodial interrogation granted on August 26.
He has already been subjected to custodial interrogation by the CBI for eight days since his arrest on August 21, after the Delhi High Court on August 20 dismissed his anticipatory bail plea.
"Investigation being the prerogative of the investigating officer and given the fact that the record is voluminous and accused needs to be confronted. Thus, more time is required. In view of the submissions made, the accused is sent to police custody remand till September 2," the judge said while pronouncing the order.

Violations in INX Media deal not brought to notice of FIPB: Subbarao to ED

Former DEA secretary D Subbarao had told investigators probing the INX Media money laundering and corruption case that "violations" in the deal approving FDI for the company were not brought to the notice of the FIPB, reveal official records.
Other senior officials, who were responsible for the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) affairs at the time of this deal, had also said in their statements to probe agencies that violation of the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) rules should have been referred to the RBI rather than being summarily approved.
The deal is being probed by the ED and the CBI on charges of alleged money laundering and corruption respectively. Former finance minister P Chidamabram has been arrested by the CBI in this case.
"The FIPB unit should have confirmed from the company if indeed downstream investment has been made in INX News Pvt Ltd," Subbarao, a 1972 batch IAS officer of the Andhra Pradesh cadre, said in his statement to the ED.
If the fact of downstream had been confirmed, it constituted a violation of the FIPB guidelines, the FIPB unit should have reported the matter to FIPB for an appropriate decision," Subbarao, who served as the 22nd Governor of Reserve Bank of India, had stated.
The secretary of the Department of Economic Affairs used to be the ex-officio chairman of the FIPB. The FIPB was scrapped by the Modi government in 2017.
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Subbarao told investigators that normally a director deputy secretary of the FIPB secretariat is responsible for ensuring compliance with SEBI or RBI guidelines and to bring violations to the notice of FIPB for decision on how to deal with the violation.
"The normal practice in such cases was to refer then to RBI for adjudication under the Foreign Exchange Management Act. But the violation was not brought to the notice of the FIPB," Subbarao said in his statement, accessed by PTI, made under section 50 of the PMLA.
The probe agencies are counting this as a "clinching" evidence against Chidambaram and his son Karti, both of whom are accused in the case.
A statement made under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) is admissible in a court.
The probe agencies also found a case where a similar instance of downstream investment of the Tata NTT Docomo was referred to the RBI for action, but in the INX Media case the FEMA contravention was "regularised" and was allowed to escape the radar.
A probe report prepared by the agencies said that P Chidambaram, the then finance minister, "applied his mind at the time of according approval to the minutes of the meeting" of the FIPB under which INX Media was given the approval.
Dipak Kumar Singh, the then in-charge of the FIPB unit, said in his statement that INX Media had not sought approval for downstream investment but had mentioned their intent to make downstream investment upon completion of foreign investment for which approval of the FIPB was sought.
"INX Media should have mentioned in its applications that it would be issuing shares at premium while bringing in FDI if it had already decided that it would be issued to foreign investors at premium," the 1992-batch IAS officer of the Bihar cadre stated.

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He was the in-charge of the FIPB unit between February, 2006 to December, 2010.
The INX Media got its FIPB approvals in 2007-08.
In case of violation of the FDI approval, Singh said in his statement, the normal course of action is "to refer the matter to RBI for appropriate action under FEMA." P K Bagga, OSD in the Ministry of Finance, said in his statement to the agency that if the FDI inflows were over and above the approved limit, the action in the normal course taken by the FIPB would be to refer the matter to the RBI for reconciliation or suitable action.
"The matter of downstreaimg by INX Media in INX News should have been checked first from the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting as the activity of news channels requires license from the I&B Ministry.
"Further, matter should have proceeded for compounding of the violation after receiving full facts," he stated.
Probe agencies concluded that the then FM (P Chidambaram) "had met key persons of INX Media and INX News and was aware that on the request of the I&B minister, the matter was being investigated." "However, he approved the FDI without raising any questions due to his son's interests."