DOUBLE JOLT FOR KARTI
Karti denied bail by CBI court even as SC refuses to give him protection from arrest by ED after his CBI remand ends
There is no respite for Karti Chidambaram, 46-year old businessman son of former finance minister P Chidambaram.
The CBI court refused to grant him bail on Tuesday and extended his CBI custody for three days until March 9 in the INX case.
In another setback, the Supreme Court refused to grant him any protection against arrest by the Enforcement Directorate.
Two top senior advocates and Congress leaders – Abhishek Manu Singhvi and Kapil Sibal – tried their best to extricate Karti. But neither Singhvi succeeded in securing bail for Karti in the CBI court, nor could Sibal get relief from the Apex Court in stalling the Enforcement Directorate from arresting Karti as soon as he is out of the CBI’s custody.
Two other top legal minds – P Chidambaram and his wife Nalini – who are also senior advocates, were also present in the special CBI court. But they were allowed to speak to their son for just 10 minutes.
The Apex Court Bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud, however, issued notice to the ED on the summons served on Karti in the INX Media money laundering case and fixed hearing on Thursday to examine the question of law raised by Sibal.
The ED could not act against Karti without an FIR, Sibal argued, pointing out that the strategy seems to keep him in custody even if he secures bail in the CBI case.
Meanwhile, in the CBI court, Additional Solicitor General Tushar Mehta argued for the CBI and submitted certain documents in a sealed cover on the progress the probe has made in the last six days.
Mehta told the court that the CBI case was based not just on Indrani Mukherjea’s testimony but also other evidences it has gathered. He said it is a “huge investigation” and the CBI has made “substantial progress” but needed more time. He also complained that Karti, who is also a law graduate, was not cooperating with the agency. He had even refused to share the passwords of his mobile phone. ‘When relevant questions are asked, he should answer. Like when we seized his phone he refused to give us his password, literally saying: ‘to hell with you’,” Additional Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the CBI, told the court. inghvi argued the CBI has not given a single reason in its application for further remand but kept repeating orally that they have to interrogate.