Hours after the Enforcement Directorate said it issued notice to his son on charges of violating foreign exchange laws, Union Finance Minister P. Chidambaram asserted that the government could not "silence my voice or stop my writing" with "baseless allegations".
"The Enforcement Directorate has the habit of recycling allegations from time to time. Today's (Monday) press release by the ED is another example. The allegations in the press release are baseless, totally false and ridiculous," said Chidambaram in a statement.
"No notice has been served upon Karti Chidambaram so far. If a notice is received, a suitable reply will be sent. By targeting Karti Chidambaram with baseless notices, the government cannot silence my voice or stop my writing," he added.
The Enforcement Directorate on Monday said it has issued notice to Vasan Health Care Pvt Ltd, its promoter Karti P. Chidambaram and Advantage Strategic Consulting for violating foreign currency laws to the tune of Rs 2,307 crore.
The ED said it had served notice to Vasan Health Care Pvt. Ltd, its promoters and their relatives for violations of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) to the tune of Rs 2,262 crore.
Advantage Strategic Consulting was served notice for Rs 45 crore for sale of Vasan Health Care's shares to overseas investors.