CBI chargesheets Karti Chidambaram in Chinese visa 'scam' case
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has filed a charge sheet against Congress MP Karti Chidambaram and others in an alleged bribery case. The case relates to facilitating visas for Chinese nationals in 2011, when Karti's father P Chidambaram was Union home minister. The charge sheet was filed in a special court and includes names like S Bhaskararaman, Talawandi Sabo Power Ltd (TSPL), a subsidiary of Vedanta, and Mumbai-based Bell Tools.
Charges and co-accused in the visa corruption case
The CBI has invoked charges of criminal conspiracy, cheating, and forgery under the Indian Penal Code and the Prevention of Corruption Act. Other accused named in the charge sheet include Viral Mehta, Anup Agarwal, Mansoor Siddiqui, and Chetan Shrivastava. The investigation started with an FIR registered in 2022 regarding TSPL's 1980 MW thermal power plant project, the work for which was allegedly outsourced to a Chinese company Shandong Electric Power Construction Corp (SEPCO).
Alleged bribery scheme to circumvent visa limits
The project was behind time, and the corporation was purportedly facing a penalty. "In order to avoid penal actions for the delay, the said private company (TSPL) of Mansa was trying to bring more and more Chinese persons and professionals for their site at district Mansa (Punjab) and needed project visas over and above the ceiling imposed by the Ministry of Home Affairs," the CBI said in a statement in 2022.
Alleged approval of visa reuse and bribe demand
According to the CBI's 2022 statement, TSPL approached Karti through Bhaskararaman to bypass visa limits by reusing 263 project visas. Project visas were a special form of visa launched in 2010 for the power and steel sectors, and specific rules were given during Chidambaram's stint as home minister. But there was no provision for project visa re-issuance, according to the FIR.
Alleged undue payments and financial favors
Despite this, a TSPL executive allegedly submitted a letter on July 30, 2011, seeking approval for visa reuse, which was approved within a month. On August 17, 2011, Bhaskararaman allegedly forwarded this letter to Karti after discussing with Chidambaram and demanded a ₹50 lakh bribe for ensuring approval. The FIR claimed that the bribe payment was routed through Bell Tools Ltd via two invoices raised for consultancy and out-of-pocket expenses for Chinese visas-related works.
