Peter Mukerjea produced before Patiala House Court in INX media corruption case; CBI to seek 5-day custody

Former media baron Peter Mukerjea was produced in Delhi’s Patiala House Court in connection with the INX media corruption case on Monday. The CBI is likely to seek a five-day custody of Mukerjea. The CBI will also seek to confront Mukerjea along with Karti Chidambaram, son of senior Congress leader P Chidambaram, and others involved in the case, according to Times Now. [caption id=“attachment_2515208” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Peter Mukerjea. News18[/caption] Earlier, on Sunday, CBI officials had taken Mukerjea, who has been lodged in the Arthur Road jail in the Sheena Bora murder case, to New Delhi for interrogation in the INX media case, which also involves Karti, according to a report in The Times of India. The CBI had, on Tuesday, moved a petition before the special CBI court conducting the trial in the murder case and said that the central agency needed to interrogate Mukerjea in the INX Media case registered at New Delhi. Additional sessions judge J Jagdale of the special CBI court, on Friday, had granted the CBI permission to take Mukerjea in custody, Hindustan Times had reported. “The custody of accused Peter, alias Pratim Mukerjea, is passed to the CBI, EOU-IV, New Delhi,” said the special judge while handing over his custody to CBI for a period of 26 March to 3 April, according to the report. The court had also directed the investigation agency to produce the former media baron before a special CBI judge at Patiala House Court while in Delhi. The Delhi High Court had granted bail to Karti in the INX Media case on Friday  . Previously, Karti was taken to the Byculla prison and confronted with Indrani Mukerjea as part of the CBI’s probe into the matter in March. An official had said that Karti and Indrani were brought face-to-face and questioned by a CBI team for about four hours. On 15 May, 2017, the CBI had registered an FIR alleging irregularities in Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) clearance to INX Media for receiving overseas funds to the tune of Rs 305 crore in 2007 when Karti’s father was the Union finance minister. With inputs from PTI