The Madras High Court on Thursday stayed a lookout circular (LOC) issued against Karti Chidambaram, son of former Union Finance Minister P. Chidambaram, by the Union Government in connection with Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) case.

When Karti’s petition came up for hearing, Justice M Duraisamy granted interim stay and directed the concern Ministry to file its affidavit by September 4.

Karti’s counsels Gopal Subramanian and Satish Parasaran said circular against Karti was “politically motivated”.

Additional Solicitor-General G. Rajagopalan contended that Karti had no locus standi to challenge the circular issued against him since he did not appear before the Enforcement Directorate even after summons were issued.

The notice was served to prevent Karti from fleeing India like liquor baron Vijay Mallya.

Karti’s counsels objected to the comparison.

The CBI had registered a FIR against Karti and INX Media along with eight others for alleged irregularities in granting FIPB clearance to the media house for Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in 2007.

In May, CBI conducted raids on the residential and business premises of Karti in Chennai in connection with the case.

Recently, Karti had approached the High Court challenging the CBI summons.