Indrani Mukerjea claims to have paid $5 million to P Chidambaram, son Karti in bribe, says CBI chargesheet

Agencies
October 19, 2019

New Delhi, Oct 19: Indrani Mukerjea has claimed to have paid a bribe of US $5 million to former Finance Minister and Congress leader P. Chidambaram and his son Karti Chidambaram through offshore payments in Singapore, Mauritius, Bermuda, the UK and Switzerland, the Central Bureau of Investigation stated in the chargesheet filed in a special court on Friday in the INX Media case.

The CBI also stated that it is awaiting response to its Letters Rogatory (formal request to a foreign court for judicial assistance) sent to five countries.

The agency filed a chargesheet against four entities and ten people under sections 120B (criminal conspiracy), 420 (cheating), 468 (forgery), 471 (signing a forged document as genuine) of Indian Penal Code and Section 9 (taking gratification, for exercise of personal influence with public servant), 13(1)(d) (abusing one’s position as a public servant) of 13(2) (public servant who commits criminal misconduct) of Prevention of Corruption Act.

The four entities charged are INX Media Private Limited (currently 9X Media Private Limited), INX News Private Limited (Direct News), Chess Management Services Private Limited and Advantage Strategic Consulting Private Limited (ASCPL).

The agency has charged P Chidambaram, then finance minister, his son Karti P Chidambaram, Ajeet Kumar Dungdung, the then section officer of Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) unit at Ministry of Finance, Rabindra Prasad, then under secretary at FIPB unit, Pradeep Kumar Bagga, then officer on special duty at Department of Economic Affairs, Prabodh Saxena, then director FIPB, Anup K Pujari, then Joint Secretary (Foreign Trade) Department of Economic Affairs, Sindhushree Khullar, then additional secretary, S Bhaskararaman, Chartered Accountant, and Peter Mukherjea, then director INX Media Limited.

The CBI has made Indrani Mukerjea, who is currently in jail in Mumbai in connection with the murder of her daughter Sheena Bora, approver in the case. She in her statement to CBI also stated that a meeting with P. Chidambaram to discuss the modalities of illegal gratification was held between March/April 2007.

The agency stated that CBI had registered a case in May 2017 to investigate corruption in INX Media Private Limited which had received foreign investment Rs 403.07 crore against approved foreign direct investment (FDI) of Rs 4.62 crore.

Further, this company illegally invested Rs 40.91 crore in its sister concern INX News Pvt Limited from the received FDI amount without approval from FIPB in violation of provisions of Foreign Exchange Maintenance Act.

During investigation, it was found that Indrani and Peter, directors of INX Media Private Limited, entered into a criminal conspiracy with the then finance minister P Chidambaram and his son Karti Chidambaram (the then director Chess Management Services Pvt Limited) and the then public servants of FIPB unit, Department of Economic Affairs for getting the issue settled without any penal action against them.

“This caused undue pecuniary advantage to the companies concerned in terms of possible penalty under FEMA which could have been up to three times the total amount received,” said a senior CBI officer.

The chargesheet stated that Karti had floated a front company, ASCPL, for receiving illegal payoffs in the guise of various consultancies and other fees and payments.INX Media had also made a payment of Rs 9.96 lakh into the account of ASCPL.

“An illegal payoff without delivering any service,” said CBI adding that further probe into the matter is on.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) too had filed a money laundering case against Chidambaram in this regard in 2017. In the case, a Delhi court on Thursday sent P. Chidambaram to custodial interrogation by the Enforcement Directorate till October 24.

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News Network
December 6,2025

indigoticket.jpg

With IndiGo flight disruptions impacting thousands of passengers, the airline on Saturday said that it will offer full waiver on all cancellations/reschedule requests for travel bookings between December 5, 2025 and December 15, 2025.

Earlier in the day, the civil aviation ministry had directed the airline to complete the ticket refund process for the cancelled flights by Sunday evening, as well as ensure baggage separated from the travellers are delivered in the next two days.

In a post on X, titled 'No questions asked', IndiGo wrote, "In response to recent events, all refunds for your cancellations will be processed automatically to your original mode of payment."

"We are deeply sorry for the hardships caused," it further added.

Several passengers, however, complained of not getting full refund as promised by the airline.

Netizens have shared screenchots of getting charged for airline cancellation fee and convenience fee.

"Please tell me why u have did this airline cancellation charges when u say full amount will be refunded (sic)," a user wrote sharing a screenshot of the refund page.

"Well, but you have still debited the convenience charges," wrote another.

Passengers have also raised concerns about the "cancel" option being disabled on the IndiGo app. "First enable the 'Cancel' button on your App & offer full refund on tickets cancelled by customers between the said dates," wrote a user.

A day after the country's largest airline, IndiGo, cancelled more than 1,000 flights and caused disruptions for the fifth day on Saturday, the ministry said that any delay or non-compliance in refund processing will invite immediate regulatory action.

The refund process for all cancelled or disrupted flights must be completed by 8 pm on Sunday, the ministry said in a statement.

"Airlines have also been instructed not to levy any rescheduling charges for passengers whose travel plans were affected by cancellations," it said.

On Saturday, more than 400 flights were cancelled at various airports.

IndiGo has also been instructed to set up dedicated passenger support and refund facilitation cells.

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News Network
December 20,2025

Mangaluru, Dec 20: The Mangaluru City Police have issued a detailed traffic advisory ahead of the inaugural ceremony of Karavali Utsava, which will be held at the Karavali Utsava Ground on Saturday.

The festival will be inaugurated at 6:00 pm by Dakshina Kannada District Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao. Cultural and public programmes will be held at the venue every evening and will continue until January 2.

According to City Police Commissioner Sudheer Kumar Reddy, parking of vehicles is strictly prohibited on both sides of the road from Lalbagh to Karavali Utsava Ground. Visitors are requested to park their vehicles only at designated parking areas.

To help the public, traffic signboards and parking guidance flex boards have been installed along the routes leading to the venue. The police have urged commuters and visitors to follow these instructions to ensure smooth traffic movement.

Designated Parking Locations

•    Urwa Market Ground – Cars
•    Gandhinagar Government School (near Press Club) – Two-wheelers and cars
•    Ladyhill Church parking area – Two-wheelers and cars
•    Canara School Ground, Mannagudda – Two-wheelers and cars
•    Thimmappa Hotel premises – Two-wheelers and cars
•    Scout and Guide Bhavana premises (behind Karavali Utsava Grounds) – Two-wheelers
•    Urwa Market Road – Two-wheelers
•    Hat Hill Road – Two-wheelers

The police have appealed to the public to cooperate by following traffic rules and parking guidelines to avoid inconvenience during the festival.

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News Network
December 15,2025

Udupi, Dec 15: What was meant to be a post-pilgrimage gathering turned tragic in Padukere village of Brahmavar taluk, Udupi district, late Sunday night, when a clash among youths escalated into a fatal assault, leaving one man dead.

The victim has been identified as 30-year-old Santosh Mogaveera, a resident of Padukere.

According to preliminary information, the incident took place during a late-night drinking party involving a group of local youths who had recently returned after completing their pilgrimage to the Sabarimala shrine. An argument reportedly broke out among the group and soon escalated into a violent confrontation.

During the ensuing brawl, Santosh Mogaveera was allegedly assaulted and collapsed at the spot after sustaining serious injuries. He was rushed by local residents to a private hospital in Brahmavar, where doctors declared him dead.

On receiving information, senior police officials, including Brahmavar Circle Inspector Gopikrishna, Kota Police Sub-Inspector Praveen Kumar T, Station ASI Manthesh Jabagoudar, and head constables Pradeep and Ashok, visited the spot and conducted an inspection.

Police have taken four youths into custody in connection with the incident. A case has been registered at the Kota police station, and further investigation is underway to ascertain the exact sequence of events leading to the death.

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