The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Saturday conducted searches at the premises of former finance minister P Chidamabaram and his son Karti Chidambaram, in connection with the INX Media money laundering case.
Denying all charges against his son, P Chidambaram said that the ED sleuths didn't find anything against them.
"There is no FIR concerning a scheduled crime by CBI or any agency. I anticipated they'll search premises in Chennai again but in a comedy of errors they came to Jor Bagh (in Delhi) & officers told me that they thought Karti is an occupant of this house but he is not," Chidambaram told reporters.
"They (ED officials) searched & found nothing but since they had to justify themselves they took papers of a statement made by govt in the Parliament, few years back. The ED has no jurisdiction to investigate under PMLA," he added.
Reacting to the development, Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala termed the raids as "malicious vendetta", alleging that the CBI and ED are "captive puppets" of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
"Not surprised by the malicious vendetta being unleashed against senior Congress leaders including P Chidambaram & his son. Everyday PM Modi & his govt use ED & CBI as captive puppets to seek revenge from opposition," he said.
The agency had on Thursday issued fresh summons to Karti after he skipped his appearance before it in connection with the money laundering probe.
The central probe agency had registered a case against him and others in May this year.
It had registered an Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR), the ED's equivalent of a police FIR, against the accused named in a CBI complaint, including Karti Chidambaram, INX Media and its directors, Peter and Indrani Mukerjea.
It was the ED which had provided information about the alleged illegal payments made by INX Media, based on which the Central Bureau of Investigation had filed its FIR.
The CBI had also carried out searches at the homes and offices of Karti Chidambaram across four cities for allegedly receiving money from the media firm owned by the Mukerjeas to scuttle a tax probe.
The Chidambarams have denied all the charges made against them.
The CBI had filed the FIR against Karti Chidambaram and the Mukerjeas on charges of criminal conspiracy, cheating, receiving illegal gratification, influencing public servants and criminal misconduct.
The agency has alleged that Karti Chidambaram received money from INX Media for using his influence to manipulate a tax probe against it in a case of violation of Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) conditions to receive investment from Mauritius.
The CBI has said it has also recovered vouchers of Rs 10 lakh which were allegedly paid for the services.
Former finance minister P Chidambaram, after the CBI searches on May 16, had issued a strong statement in response to the raids, saying the government was using the CBI and other agencies to target his son.
The FIPB approval was granted in "hundreds of cases", the senior Congress leader had said.
