Karti Chidambaram recently secured bail from the Delhi High Court in the INX Media corruption case which said the relief should not be refused unless the crime is of the “highest magnitude” entailing to ‘severe punishment.”
Justice S P Garg granted bail to Karti stating that there was no possibility of him fleeing from justice, as his parents were senior advocates, he had a family to take care of, has roots in the society and was not a previous convict.
The court further stated that while there was evidence of a nexus between his then company Chess Management Services (P) Ltd (CMS) and Advantage Strategic Consulting (P) Ltd (ASC), which had received payment of Rs 10 lakh for allegedly facilitating the FIPB clearance to INX Media, it was not sufficient to deny bail to Karti as the payment was duly accounted for in the company records and was received by a cheque.
However, it was stated that it was a matter of trial as to who was the ultimate beneficiary of the amount and added that no credible evidence has been produced on record regarding the exact relationship of the petitioner (Karti) with ASC. The high court granted him bail subject to his furnishing a personal bond of Rs 10 lakh with one surety of the like amount to the satisfaction of the Special CBI court.
The court imposed several conditions including that he would not leave India without prior permission of the trial court, he would not close any of his bank accounts in India or abroad without prior intimation to CBI, would not change the entity or composition of any business concerns with which he is associated without first informing the agency and shall be available for joining the investigation whenever required.
The high court also directed Karti not to contact prosecution witnesses or tamper with evidence or criminally intimidate any witness in any manner.
