Overview
- Justice Manoj Jain issued notice on Karti Chidambaram’s plea against the framing of charges in the alleged Chinese visa case and asked the CBI to file a short reply or status report.
- The court refused to halt trial proceedings at this stage, saying it would not derail the case while the petition targets the order that sent him to trial.
- The trial court is slated to take up admission and denial of documents on February 4, and the High Court listed the matter for further hearing on February 12.
- The defence argues there is no evidence of demand or acceptance of any Rs 50 lakh gratification, no identified public servant, and an erroneous charge under Section 204 IPC.
- The CBI cites a 2011 scheme to reuse project visas for roughly 250–263 Chinese nationals, alleging TSPL routed Rs 50 lakh via Bell Tools to S. Bhaskararaman, with charges framed on December 23 against Karti and others while one accused was discharged.