A special court on Thursday allowed Indrani Mukerjea’s application to turn an approver in the INX Media corruption case, which involves former Finance Minister P Chidambaram and his son Karti Chidambaram. The court listed the next hearing in the case on July 11, PTI reported.

Special judge Arun Bhardwaj pardoned Mukerjea, an accused in the case, after she said that she had voluntarily agreed to become an approver in the corruption case. The court has also issued a production warrant for Mukerjea, who is currently lodged in Mumbai’s Byculla Jail in connection with the murder of her daughter Sheena Bora.

In May, the Central Bureau of Investigation had said it would not oppose Mukerjea’s plea. The Enforcement Directorate and the Central Bureau of Intelligence are looking into how Karti Chidambaram was able to get a clearance from the Foreign Investment Promotion Board for the company to get funds of around Rs 305 crore from overseas. The investigating agencies had noted that the company only had clearance for Rs 4 crore. P Chidambaram was the finance minister in the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government at the time.

Both P Chidambaram and his son Karti Chidambaram were questioned in February. Enforcement Directorate authorities had then said that the former minister was questioned on the clearance given to the company during his tenure.

The case

In May 2017, the Enforcement Directorate filed a money laundering case against Karti Chidambaram, INX Media and its directors Indrani Mukerjea and Peter Mukerjea. Karti Chidambaram’s company allegedly received Rs 10 lakh from INX Media for helping the company escape punitive action for taking Rs 305 crore in foreign funding in 2007 despite having clearance from the Foreign Exchange Promotion Board for only Rs 4 crore.

Karti Chidambaram has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing in the INX Media case. The Delhi High Court in March this year admitted a petition by the Central Bureau of Investigation to take on record additional submissions in connection with the pending anticipatory bail plea of former Union minister P Chidambaram in the INX Media case.