INX case: 'Will arrest Karti Chidambaram once stay is lifted': ED to Supreme Court

New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday said that as soon as the stay imposed on the arrest of former finance minister P Chidambaram's son Karti Chidambaram is lifted, he will be arrested.

"Karti Chidambaram is yet to be arrested in ED case, he did not apply for bail, he had filed a petition in High Court challenging few provisions of PMLA. There is a stay on his arrest and once it is lifted, he would be arrested," Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the ED, told the Supreme Court.

Mehta said that Karti is not on bail in the money laundering case being probed by the ED but in the corruption case being investigated by the CBI.

The ED made contentions before the top court which was hearing  Chidambaram's petition, challenging the Delhi High Court's November 15 verdict, which denied him bail in the case being probed by the ED.

The top court has reserved the judgment on his petition.

INX Media case pertains to the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) clearance given to INX Media to the tune of Rs 305 crore in 2007, during P Chidambaram's tenure as the finance minister.

CBI had registered a corruption case in this regard in May 2017. Later that year, the ED also lodged a money laundering case.

The CBI recently filed a charge sheet against fourteen accused, including P Chidambaram, Karti and a handful of bureaucrats in the case.

In its charge sheet, the CBI alleged that Karti influenced public servants to extend favours to the INX Media, and also used false invoices to demand an illegal gratification of Rs 10 lakh from the company.