Chidambaram gets protection from arrest
Former Union Minister P Chidambaram got a temporary relief on Thursday with the Delhi High Court granting him interim protection from arrest till July 3 in the Central Bureau of Investigation’s INX Media corruption case .
Justice A K Pathak asked Mr Chidambaram to join and cooperate in the questioning session as and when called by the CBI. Senior advocates Kapil Sibal and Salman Khurshid, appearing for Chidambaram, mentioned the matter before the judge in the morning and assured the court that the Congress leader will cooperate with the investigating agency. Additional Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the CBI, opposed the plea saying Mr Chidambaram should have first approached the trial court for relief, instead of the high court. He said the politician has been called for questioning in pursuance to the notice issued by the CBI and the law was equal for every citizen of the country. The court, however, observed that the ASG should make a statement that the CBI will not arrest him till the next date of hearing. “Either you ( Mehta) make a statement that you are not going to arrest him, ( Chidambaram) or else I need to protect as he apprehends his arrest,” the judge said. The court also sought the CBI’s response on the Congress leader’s anticipatory bail plea and listed the matter for further hearing on July 3. Additional Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the CBI, opposed the anticipatory bail plea saying he was merely called for questioning.
Mr Chidambaram had on Wednesday rushed to a trial court for protection from arrest in AircelMaxis case before approaching the Delhi High Court in connection with the INX Media case, in which he has been asked by probe agencies to join investigations.
On Wednesday, the matter was first mentioned inchamber before a twojudge bench of acting chief justice Gita Mittal and justice C Hari Shankar, which allowed the matter to be listed later in the day.