INX case: Karti stays in custody, CBI may grill PC
NEW DELHI: Karti Chidambaram, son of former finance minister and senior Congress leader P Chidambaram, was remanded to three more days in police custody by a special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court on Tuesday for his alleged role in the INX Media bribery case.
The court’s order comes even as the CBI is preparing the ground for questioning P Chidambaram, according to an official at the agency who asked not to be named.
CBI produced Karti, 46, before special judge Sunil Rana after his five-day police custody expired on Tuesday.
The agency, represented by additional solicitor general (ASG) Tushar Mehta, sought another nine days’ police custody for Karti, stating that CBI required to interrogate Karti further owing to new evidence found by it on Sunday. Mehta’s arguments also rested on how Karti continued to be evasive and non-cooperative. In turn, senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, representing Karti, emphasised that his client had indeed cooperated with the agency and questioned the credi- bility of INX Media co-founder Indrani Mukerjea’s statements, which form a part of the case against Karti.
The CBI’s plea to extend Karti’s custody comes even as it is preparing to involve P Chidambaram in the investigation. “We have not questioned P Chidambaram in the case so far. Indrani Mukherjea has told investigators and repeated the same before magistrate as well that the senior Chidambaram asked her to meet Karti. Her statement is corroborated with other material facts like payments allegedly received by Karti’s companies,” added the CBI official cited above.