INX Media money laundering case: Heated arguments between Abhishek Manu Singhvi and CBI Counsel
ET Bureau|
Mar 01, 2018, 09.02 AM IST
NEW DELHI: A Delhi court sent Karti Chidambaram, the son of former finance minister P Chidambaram, to the custody of Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for a day in the INX Media case in which he is accused of receiving money to facilitate foreign investment in a media company.
The CBI arrested Karti on Wednesday from Chennai airport on his return from London. The agency sought 15 days’ custody to question him, but the court allowed only one day.
The CBI court at Patiala House complex witnessed heated arguments between Karti’s lawyer Abhishek Manu Singhvi and the CBI counsel. Singhvi called the arrest “bizarre” and an effort by the agency to show its “bosses that (they) are doing some arrest”. CBI told the court that Karti had failed to cooperate in the probe, resulting in his arrest.
The CBI lawyer refused to supply a copy of the remand paper to Singhvi. However, the court directed the agency to share it with him. According to Singhvi, the CBI had interrogated Karti for 22 hours on August 23 and 28 last year. He was issued summons twice and he fully cooperated with the agency and answered every possible question.
Karti is “not a Hindustan leaver. He is a Hindustan returner”, Singhvi said, taking a dig at the CBI in a possible reference to its investigations into the scams involving Vijay Mallya and Nirav Modi.
On the allegation that a company owned by Karti illegally received Rs 10 lakh in 2008, Singhvi said the payment was made via cheque with a tax deduction at source. “Karti is neither a shareholder nor a director in the said company,” he said.
“The persons involved in the case are six secretaries to the government of India, all very senior officials. None of them ever was questioned,” he said. “But 10 years later, a man who happens to be the son of a politician is sought to be arrested.” For the arrest, the remand papers said only that “they are apprehensive that I travelled abroad”, the lawyer said.
According to the CBI lawyer, one of the witnesses in the case had revealed that Karti demanded $1million. “Thus, Karti Chidambaram needs to be subjected to sustained interrogation for unearthing the total conspiracy hatched in the case,” the agency said. This is also required to find out the details of overseas payments received by him from INX Media as a quid pro quo for influence exercised over public servants to scuttle action required against the media company, it said.
The CBI arrested Karti on Wednesday from Chennai airport on his return from London. The agency sought 15 days’ custody to question him, but the court allowed only one day.
The CBI court at Patiala House complex witnessed heated arguments between Karti’s lawyer Abhishek Manu Singhvi and the CBI counsel. Singhvi called the arrest “bizarre” and an effort by the agency to show its “bosses that (they) are doing some arrest”. CBI told the court that Karti had failed to cooperate in the probe, resulting in his arrest.
The CBI lawyer refused to supply a copy of the remand paper to Singhvi. However, the court directed the agency to share it with him. According to Singhvi, the CBI had interrogated Karti for 22 hours on August 23 and 28 last year. He was issued summons twice and he fully cooperated with the agency and answered every possible question.
Karti is “not a Hindustan leaver. He is a Hindustan returner”, Singhvi said, taking a dig at the CBI in a possible reference to its investigations into the scams involving Vijay Mallya and Nirav Modi.
On the allegation that a company owned by Karti illegally received Rs 10 lakh in 2008, Singhvi said the payment was made via cheque with a tax deduction at source. “Karti is neither a shareholder nor a director in the said company,” he said.
“The persons involved in the case are six secretaries to the government of India, all very senior officials. None of them ever was questioned,” he said. “But 10 years later, a man who happens to be the son of a politician is sought to be arrested.” For the arrest, the remand papers said only that “they are apprehensive that I travelled abroad”, the lawyer said.
According to the CBI lawyer, one of the witnesses in the case had revealed that Karti demanded $1million. “Thus, Karti Chidambaram needs to be subjected to sustained interrogation for unearthing the total conspiracy hatched in the case,” the agency said. This is also required to find out the details of overseas payments received by him from INX Media as a quid pro quo for influence exercised over public servants to scuttle action required against the media company, it said.
