Karti Chidambaram Moves Delhi High Court Seeking Quashing Of CBI's Fresh Corruption FIR

Congress MP Karti Chidambaram has moved the Delhi High Court seeking the quashing of a fresh corruption case registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) accusing him of allegedly giving relief to an alcoholic beverage company- Diageo Scotland over a ban on duty-free sale of its whisky.

Chidambaram has sought quashing of the FIR registered on January 01 for the offences under Sections 120B read with 420 and 471 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 and Sections 8, 9 and 13(2) read with 13(1)(d) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988.

The plea has been moved through Advocate Akshat Gupta.

Chidambaram has submitted that the FIR has been registered on the basis of a complaint lodged by a CBI inspector in December last year pursuant to a Preliminary Inquiry registered in 2018.

He has said that he was never called to join the Preliminary Enquiry by CBI and no opportunity was given to clarify his stand in respect of the allegations against him.

“Despite a 7-year long Preliminary Enquiry, no public servant is identified nor named in the Impugned FIR whom the petitioner is alleged to have influenced, either through corrupt or illegal means as outlined under Section 8 of the PC Act, 1988, or through personal influence as specified under Section 9 of the PC Act,” the plea states.

It adds that there is a gross delay in the registration of the FIR as the allegations pertain to the period between the years 2004-2010 whereas the FIR was registered in 2025 i.e. after 20 years.

Chidambaram has contended that there is no allegation that he either demanded or accepted any bribe or illegal gratification from any person and therefore, no offence under Sections 8 and 9 of the PC Act is made out against him.

“Section 13(2) r/w Section 13(1)(d) PC Act, 1988 has no applicability in so far as the Petitioner is concerned since the aforesaid offence can only be committed by a public servant, whereas, the Petitioner was not a public servant at the time of commission of the alleged offence,” the plea states.

Earlier this month, a trial court had directed the CBI to give three days prior written notice to Chidambaram in case his arrest is required after he joins the investigation of the case upon his return to the country on January 12.

The Trial Court had directed Chidambaram, who was travelling abroad to Vienna, Austria and the 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.

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 the 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 to lift the ban imposed on Diageo Scotland for sale of duty-free liquor and not for any consultancy work.

Title: Karti P. Chidambaram v. CBI