‘Merry Christmas:’ Karti Chidambaram’s strange reaction on his appearance before ED

New Delhi: Following Congress MP Karti Chidambaram’s appearance before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for his questioning in a money laundering case on Saturday, Republic confronted the 52-year-old MP.

The Parliamentarian from Sivaganga Lok Sabha seat in Tamil Nadu evaded the questions by the Republic related to the case linked to the issuance of visa to some Chinese nationals in 2011.

Upon being asked about whether he was asked to appear before the ED as an accused or a witness, he replied that he wanted to wish the viewers a very Christmas.

When asked what else he wanted to say about the case, he said “Merry Christmas and have a cake.”

While posing for a photograph, the Congress leader dodged the question about what he was asked inside. 

He replied in an ignorant way. Replying to the question he said, “Whether raisins are added to my plum cake or not.”

Karti had earlier said the ED probe was a "fishing and roving" enquiry and that he had earlier submitted documents to the agency. He sought more time to collect documents as he skipped appearance on December 12 and December 16.

The central agency recorded the statement of the Congress MP under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

The ED case pertains to the allegations of Rs 50 lakh being paid as kickbacks to Karti and his close associate S Bhaskararaman by a top executive of the Vedanta group company Talwandi Sabo Power Ltd. (TSPL), which was setting up a power plant in Punjab, according to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) FIR. The ED case stems from the CBI complaint.