THE CENTRAL Bureau of Investigation (CBI) will examine Indrani Mukerjea and Peter Mukerjea for four days this month in connection with alleged irregularities in financial transactions made by INX Media Private Limited. Special judge J C Jagdale has allowed the CBI to examine Indrani at Byculla women’s jail and Peter at Arthur Road jail on December 4, 6, 7 and 8 for further investigation into this case. Last month, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) was permitted to examine Indrani for two days in connection with investigation into the same case. Indrani and Peter are currently standing trial in the Sheena Bora murder case. Peter is the former founder of INX Media and Indrani was the founder CEO. In the application filed before the special court, the CBI claimed that INX Media entered into a criminal conspiracy with former Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram’s son Karti Chidambaram, pursuant to which it received ‘excess foreign direct investment’ than the amount approved by the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB). The CBI further submitted that there was ‘unauthorised’ downstream investment done by INX Media and INX News without the approval of the FIPB. The CBI said Karti Chidambaram did this by influencing officials of the Finance Ministry’s FIPB unit ‘by virtue of their relationship with the then Finance Minister’. “The unknown officers/officials of the Ministry of Finance, Government of India, also by virtue of influence exercised over them by Shri Karti P Chidambaran, by abusing their official position caused undue pecuniary advantage to M INX Media (P) Limited,” the CBI claimed. They further told the court that INX Media paid “substantial amounts” to the companies in which Karti had “sustainable interest” directly or indirectly.
