Delhi Court Directs CBI To Give Three Days Prior Notice To Karti Chidambaram In Case Of His Arrest In Fresh Corruption FIR

A Delhi Court on Friday directed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to give three days prior written notice to Congress MP Karti Chidambaram in a fresh corruption case accusing him of allegedly giving relief to an alcoholic beverage company- Diageo Scotland over a ban on duty free sale of its whisky.

“….the Investigating Agency shall give three days written notice prior to the Applicant in case his arrest is required after he joins the investigation of the case upon return to the country on 12.01.2025,” Special judge Kaveri Baweja of Rouse Avenue Courts ordered. 

The Court directed Chidambaram, who is travelling abroad to Vienna, Austria and United Kingdom, to join the investigation upon his return to India and cooperate in the process, as and when so required in accordance with law.

This was after Chidambaram moved anticipatory bail plea in the case. During the hearing today, CBI's counsel clarified that no notice under Section 35(3) of BNSS has been issued so far to Chidambaram

It was submitted that the anticipatory bail plea was premature as there was no apprehension of his arrest at this stage.

The counsel also clarified that no LOC has been got opened against Chidambaram.

Chidambaram's counsel then said that the application may be disposed of with liberty to move an appropriate application under relevant statutory provisions, as and when required.

“Under these circumstances and in view of the submissions made by Ld. Senior Counsel for the Applicant, the application stands disposed of as not pressed,” the Court said.

Karti Chidambaram was represented by Senior Advocate Sidharth Luthra along with Advocates Arshdeep Singh and Akshat Gupta.

The FIR alleges that Diageo Scotland and Sequoia Capitals suspiciously transferred funds to Advantage Strategic Consulting Pvt. Ltd., an entity controlled by Karti P Chidambaram and his close aide S Bhaskararaman.

As per the FIR, India Tourism Development Corporation, which had a monopoly over sale of imported duty-free liquor in India, had put an embargo on the sale of the Diageo Group's duty-free products in India.

The FIR alleges that in order to lift the ban, Diageo Scotland approached Karti P Chidambaram and that USD 15,000 was received by his company in the guise of consultancy charges after entering into a fake contract with Diageo Scotland.

As per the FIR, the amount was paid to Karti P Chidambaram for influencing public servants for lifting the ban imposed on Diageo Scotland for sale of duty free liquor and not for any consultancy work.

The FIR has been registered for the offences under Sections 120B r/w 420 & 471 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 and Sections 8, 9 and 13(2) r/w 13(1)(d) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988.

It was Chidambaram's case that there was gross delay in registration of the FIR as the allegations pertain to the period of 2004-2010 whereas the FIR was registered in 2025 i.e. after 20 years.

“No useful purpose would be served in arresting the Applicant after a period of 20 years from the alleged commission of the offence,” the anticipatory bail plea read.

It was also stated that the FIR did not disclose that any public servant was allegedly influenced by Chidambaram, either by corrupt or illegal means or by exercise of personal influence.

“It is submitted that the Subject FIR is nothing but an abuse of process of law intended to wrongly set in motion the criminal machinery against the Applicant. The Subject FIR is mala fide and is borne out of political vendetta. The Investigating Agency/ Respondent CBI is acting at the behest of the Central Government, which wants to malign the untainted and unimpeachable reputation of the Applicant and his father, Sh. P. Chidambaram who is a senior leader of the Indian National Congress Party, being the principal Opposition party in Parliament,” the plea read.