INX case: Karti Chidambaram withdraws plea from Delhi HC

Congress MP Karti Chidambaram, who has moved the Delhi High Court seeking interim protection from coercive action by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in relation to the INX Media money laundering case, withdrew his petition from the court on Wednesday.

A bench of justices Siddharth Mridul and Amit Sharma permitted Karti, son of former Union Minister P Chidambaram, to withdraw his plea, in which he said his regular bail application was pending before the trial court.

"Petitioner is permitted to withdraw the earlier application," said the bench after hearing his counsel's submissions.

During the course of the hearing, Advocate Arshdeep Singh appearing on behalf of the petitioner, said the probe agency has filed a complaint before the trial court on the ground of the pendency of his application related to the protection from coercive steps before the high court.

The case is related to the alleged receiving of money to facilitate the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) clearance to INX Media in 2007 when his father was the Union Finance Minister in the UPA government.

Karti allegedly took service charges for getting the FIPB clearance for the media firm for receiving funds from abroad to the tune of Rs 305 crore, as per the case.

The ED has been probing the financial irregularities committed as per the Prevention of Money Laundering Act in the case, which is also being investigated by the CBI.