ED moves SC to cancel Karti bail

■ ‘ May become legal device for people like Nirav Modi’

The Enforcement Directorate on Tuesday moved the Supreme Court challenging the Delhi high court order granting protection from arrest to Karti Chidambaram, arrested by CBI in connection with the INX Media case.

In its appeal, the ED said the high court could not have given anticipatory bail to Mr Karti under its jurisdiction as this will become a legal device for persons like diamond merchant Nirav Modi, who had fled the country, even before they are questioned in ED cases. Additional solicitor- general Tushar Mehta made a mention before a bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra for early listing and the bench posted it for hearing on March 15.

ED said it apprehended that more number of persons like Nirav Modi, who are facing money laundering cases, will make an attempt to get relief by approaching the high court seeking stay of arrest. It said over 1,000 such cases are pending across the country being probed by ED and all these cases will he affected if Mr Karti’s anticipatory bail was not cancelled.

By an interim order passed on March 9, the Delhi HC has restrained ED from arresting Karti Chidambaram till March 20 in the alleged money laundering case involving INX Media ED.

Mr Karti Chidambaram is accused of having received ` 10 lakhs in kickbacks in 2007 to clear foreign investment worth ` 305 crore for INX Media, which was owned by Peter and Indrani Mukherjea, at a time when his father P. Chidambaram was finance minister in the Congress- led United Progressive Alliance government.