The Delhi High Court Justice Girish Kathpalia on January 23 recused himself from hearing Congress Sivaganga Lok Sabha MP Karti Chidambaram’s petition challenging the framing of charges of corruption and conspiracy against him in the alleged Chinese visa scam case, investigated by the CBI.
Justice Girish Kathpalia said, “I do not think I would be able to hear this. Subject to orders of the learned judge in charge, criminal side, list before some other bench for personal reasons.”
It is not the first time judges have recused themselves from hearing the case involving Karti Chidambaram. Earlier, Justices Swarana Kanta Sharma and Anup J. Bhambhani had also recused themselves from hearing the case. The matter will now be heard on January 28, 2026.
On January 15, Justice Sharma directed that the matter be placed before another bench. On January 19, Justice Bhambhani also passed a similar order. The matter was later listed before another bench on January 23.
Karti Chidambaram has approached the High Court against the framing of charges against him by the Rouse Avenue Court in connection with the alleged Chinese visa scam. His counsel argued that the trial court did not apply its judicial mind to the material and documents on record, completely ignoring evidence and statements of witnesses that demonstrate the absence of criminality.
On December 23, 2025, Special Judge of CBI, Dig Vinay Singh of the Rouse Avenue Court, directed that charges be framed against seven accused for the offence of criminal conspiracy, while discharging one accused, Chetan Shrivastava, from the case.
The case stems from allegations that bribes were paid to facilitate the grant of visas to Chinese nationals employed by a power company in 2011. The alleged acts took place during the tenure of Karti Chidambaram’s father, P. Chidambaram, as the Union Home Minister. The CBI had filed its charge sheet in October 2024, naming Karti Chidambaram and others for their alleged role in irregularly securing visas for Chinese nationals in exchange for illegal gratification.
In 2022, the court had previously rejected Chidambaram’s anticipatory bail application, along with the other accused in the case. The Special Judge, while dismissing the bail application, had observed: “The nature and gravity of the alleged offences, the nascent stage of investigation and also the previous criminal antecedents of the accused Karti P. Chidambaram and S. Bhaskararaman do not make it out a case for grant of anticipatory bail to the applicants or for any further interim protection to them for joining of the investigation of this case, as it will seriously hamper the process and progress of investigation.”
In October last year, the CBI had filed a charge sheet against Karti Chidambaram and others in connection with alleged bribery in facilitating visas for Chinese nationals for a power company, Talwandi Sabo Power Ltd (TSPL), in 2011, when his father P. Chidambaram was the Union Home Minister. TSPL is a subsidiary of Vedanta and Bell Tools, through which bribes were allegedly routed. The CBI found that Karti had helped 250 Chinese nationals to get visas to India to work in a power plant in 2011. The probe agency alleged that Karti used his influence to get the work done.
The CBI alleged that Talwandi Sabo Power Limited (TSPL), a Vedanta Group company, had paid an amount of Rs. 50 lakh for registration of Project Visas for 263 Chinese workers. TSPL, at the time, was setting up a power plant in Punjab. The 98-page order noted that the court “need not even determine whether the evidence” was sufficient to support a conviction. It said, “Those considerations will require attention once the evidence is recorded. At this stage, the court has to merely consider the broad probabilities, the total effect of the evidence and documents produced, any basic infirmities in the case, and so forth. However, this does not entitle the court to make a roving inquiry into the pros and cons.”
The ED has also filed a money laundering case against him. Project Visas are a special type of visas introduced in 2010 for the power and steel sector. Detailed guidelines for the same were issued during P. Chidambaram’s tenure as Union Home Minister. However, there was no provision for re-issuance of the said visas.
