Kathirvel is a businessman in his late 40s, is running hotel, poultry, education and real estate business in southern states. According to his complaint, in 2007, ‘Comfort Inn’, the hotel in Tirupur in which he was a partner, was grabbed by Padmini, sister of Chidambaram’s wife Nalini with the help of top management of Indian Overseas Bank (IOB).

The hotel worth more than Rs. 10crores value had a loan due of Rs. 2.5 crores with the IOB and IOB declared the loan as a Non-Performing Asset (NPA) and announced auction.

Kathirvel approached Madras High Court and later Debt Recovery Tribunal and paid Rs. 64 lakhs to the IOB to avoid auction. Chidambaram was the Finance Minister then.

After receiving Rs. 64 lakhs, the Bank promised cancellation of auction. According to the complaint, the Bank cheated him and conducted a farce auction and allotted the hotel to Padmini at a very cheap rate of Rs. 4.5 crores.

The hotel’s value was more than Rs. 10 crores and all of a sudden Padmini with the help of mob of goons barged into the hotel and forcefully acquired the hotel. And after some years, the hotel was inaugurated by P Chidambaram.

Chidambaram wrote to him in May 8, 2008 that he was not a party to an issue with him and a private party. The private party is none other than his sister-in-law Padmini.

Chidambaram said he had advised wife Nalini to leave handling the files of Padmini. Nalini called Kathirvel and offered Rs. 2.5 crores to withdraw from all cases and his hopes to get back the hotel. Returning the cheque of Rs. 2.5 crores given by Nalini, Kathirvel started knocking the doors of authorities for justice.

Kathirvel went ahead with complaints to Chidambaram, the then Finance Minister and Bank authorities. According to him, the Bank authorities threatened him to withdraw his complaints against handing over the hotel to Padmini and started blackmailing him by sending loan recovery notices and stopping finances to his other businesses, including the poultry farm.

The documents produced by the businessman Kathirvel, who approached the Delhi High Court for CBI action for grabbing his hotel by former Finance Minister P Chidambaram’s family shows that wife Nalini Chidambaram was directly involved in the arm-twisting.

Telephone conversation transcripts with Nalini and Kathirvel attached in the petition before the High Court for abuse of power happened in 2008 for grabbing the hotel by Nalini’s sister Padmini in connivance with several Indian Overseas Bank (IOB) officials.

Delhi High Court on April 25 directed CBI to file status report on the probe in Kathirvel’s complaint against Chidambaram’s family members and errant IOB officers in capturing his hotel Comfort Inn in Tirupur in Tamil Nadu.

Arguing before Justice R K Gauba, the businessman’s lawyer Yatinder Chaudhary pointed out the transcripts exposing former Finance Minister’s wife’s role on the matter.

He said that the complainant can provide to CBI many such audio clips of the family members of Chidambaram and the bank officials in arm-twisting. The petition also attached photocopy of the Rs.2.5 crores as compensation in cheque given to Kathirvel by Nalini during compromise talks.

The conversations of Nalini with Kathirvel happened on May 11 and 12 in the year 2008. This happened a few days after Chidambaram wrote and phoned to Kathirvel.

A Senior Lawyer of Supreme Court saying her sister used goons to take physical possession of the hotel knowing that Supreme Court may issue some orders!

Nalini also reminds Kathirvel that if it was not for her husband, any other politician would have put him behind the bars. This was her response, when Kathirvel reminded her about Chidambaram’s letter and later phone call to him on May 8, 2008. She also tells Kathirvel that she is angry about his  attitude and cautions him not to scandalise the issue.

Delhi High Court has now directed CBI to submit a detailed status report on the matter by July 25, 2017.