Indrani Mukerjea turns approver in INX Media case

New Delhi : Jailed-media baron Indrani Mukerjea on Thursday turned approver in the INX Media corruption case in which former Union minister P Chidambaram and his son Karti are accused.

Mukerjea, who was granted pardon in the case by the court on July 4, appeared before special judge Arun Bhardwaj and accepted the conditions put on her. She told the court that she will record the statements "truthfully with all the facts". "I am aware that the court has allowed the application and granted me pardon, subject to the conditions as mentioned in the order," Indrani told the court.

In case of giving false evidence and not complying with the condition, she would be tried for the offence, the court had said in its order granting her pardon. She is currently lodged in Byculla jail, Mumbai, in her daughter Sheena Bora's murder case.

Her husband Peter Mukerjea, the company's founder, is also in jail in the same case. They are facing trial for allegedly conspiring to kill Bora, Indrani's daughter from an earlier relationship, in April 2012. The judge pardoned Indrani Mukerjea, also accused in the INX case, after she submitted that she voluntarily agreed to become the approver.

Their names had cropped up in the case involving Rs 305 crore relating to Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) approval granted in 2007 for receipt of funds by INX Media. Responding to the application, the CBI had earlier told the court that the agency had come across evidence, in the form of conversations, to which only Indrani Mukerjee is privy and will help consolidate the case. Karti Chidambaram, elected MP from Shivaganga, Tamil Nadu, is on bail in the case.

The former Union minister's anticipatory bail plea is however pending before the Delhi High Court. CBI had registered an FIR in the case on May 15, 2017 alleging irregularities in the FIPB clearance granted to the media group for receiving overseas funds to the tune of Rs 305 crore in 2007 during P Chidambaram's tenure as finance minister. Thereafter, ED also lodged the money laundering case against the company's founders, the Mukerjeas, and others under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).