Chidambaram gets top court relief in ED case
NEWDELHI: The Supreme Court on Friday granted former finance and home minister P Chidambaram interim protection from arrest by the Enforcement Directorate in the INX Media case till the next date of hearing on Monday.
However, the former Union minister will spend the weekend in Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) custody as the top court posted the hearing in INX media cases -- by the CBI and the ED -for Monday.
Chidambaram is in jail after the Delhi high court on Tuesday rejected his pre-arrest bail in connection with a money laundering case related to INX Media. He was arrested by the CBI after a 90-minute drama and was produced on Thursday in a special court that gave the CBI the custody of Chidambaram till August 26.
A bench comprising justices R Banumathi and AS Bopanna posted both the matters for hearing on Monday, August 26.
The apex court was hearing two separate petitions filed by Chidambaram, challenging the Delhi high court’d August 20 verdict by which his anticipatory bail was dismissed in the cases registered by the CBI and ED.
The hearing witnessed exchange of words between prosecution counsel and solicitor general Tushar Mehta, and senior advocates and Chidambaram’s party colleagues Kapil Sibal and Abhishek Manu Singhvi.
Mehta vehemently opposed the order granting protection from arrest to Chidambaram in the money laundering case registered by the ED.
Arguing the case on Friday, Chidambaram’s lawyer Kapil Sibal said, “The petition raises the issue of his fundamental right to liberty. High court gave the order after seven months at 3:20pm on Wednesday and said we could move an application asking for time. At 4pm, the appli
cation is rejected. We come to the SC, request for an early hearing. We are told to move the seniormost judge the next day ... we prepare the petition overnight... a notice is pasted at 12[am] in the night asking me (Chidambaram) to appear before CBI for two hours; there is no provision for such a notice.”
Solicitor general Mehta, in his arguments, said that there was no question of anticipatory bail as Chidambaram was already in CBI custody. “The court here is dealing with an offence against the finance minister who granted FIBP approval to a company called INX media, controlled by Peter and Indrani Mukherjea.. CBI has a statement of indrani ...that is the predicate offence. ED proceedings on money laundering started after this predicate offence was made out.” he argued.
Stating that Chidambaram has been evasive and not answering questions, Mehta urged the court to examine the evidence adduced so far.
“The court must satisfy its conscience before extending protective benefit to Chidambaram,” Mehta said, arguing against interim protection to the Congress leader in the ED case.
The INX Media case relates to alleged irregularities in Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) clearance given to the media group for foreign investment to the tune of ~305 crore in 2007, when Chidambaram was finance minister. CBI registered a first information report on May 15, 2017, alleging irregularities in the manner the clearance had been awarded. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) filed a money laundering case a year later.
The agency alleges that the former directors of INX Media, Indrani Mukerjea and Peter Mukerjea, made a payment of $5 million and $450,000 to Chidambaram in 2007-08 and 2008-09, allegedly for giving the FIPB approval.
Peter Mukerjea and Indrani Mukerjea are behind bars in connection with the murder of Sheena Bora, Indrani’s daughter from another marriage.
Chidambaram was arrested late on Wednesday night after the Delhi high court on Tuesday rejected his pre-arrest bail. His legal team desperately sought to have the Supreme Court hear the matter on Tuesday and Wednesday but failed. Chidambaram then made an appearance at the Congress headquarters in Delhi and made a statement. He was arrested by CBI shortly after. The Enforcement Directorate is yet to arrest him.
People familiar with the matter had told HT earlier Singhvi and Sibal wanted to thwart the possibility of Chidambaram being picked up by ED even when he is granted bail in the CBI case.
While some legal experts say Chidambaram’s SLP has now become infructuous as he has been taken into custody by CBI, Congress leaders point out that the SLP was filed much before the arrest took place and not otherwise. So, there is still a possibility to argue the petition, they added. The usual norm for the SC has been to send the petitioners seeking bail to an appropriate court.
A special court had rejected arguments by Chidambaram’s lawyers, who sought his bail by stressing that the personal liberty of their client was under threat. The CBI sought Chidambaram’s five-day custodial interrogation, saying that the senior Congress leader did not cooperate in the probe and that there was a need to unearth a “larger conspiracy”.
“Considering the facts and circumstances as brought to the notice of the court, I am of the view that police custody remand of the accused, P Chidambaram, is justified and accordingly the accused is remanded to police custody till August 26,” judge Ajay Kumar Kuhar ruled on Thursday.
He allowed Chidambaram’s family members and lawyers to meet him for half-an-hour every day during this period.
Sibal, who appeared for Chidambaram in the special CBI court on Thursday, said that all other accused in the case, including P Chidambaram’s son Karti, have already been granted bail. Singhvi, who also argued for Chidambaram, said the agency could not seek his remand on the ground of “evasive replies”.
In the special court, Mehta, who appeared for CBI, said the agency was not extorting a confession from Chidambaram, and that custodial interrogation was necessary to unearth the “quid pro quo and larger conspiracy” in a serious case.
The CBI’s arguments in Thursday’s hearing were based on three key points: Chidambaram did not cooperate with the investigation and gave evasive replies on many crucial questions; his replies were in contradiction to the stand taken by other co-accused and witnesses; and the probe revealed that Karti received payments from several companies, which received FIPB approvals during Chidambaram’s tenure as finance minister.
Separately, a Delhi court on Friday extended interim protection from arrest to P Chidambaram and his son Karti in AircelMaxis cases, filed by the CBI and ED, till September 3 while reserving order till then on their anticipatory bail application.
The court, however, refused to adjourn hearing in these cases on the pleas by both the probe agencies, which sought the adjournment on the ground that another case pertaining to INX Media involving the father-son duo was pending before the Supreme Court.