Supreme Court refuses interim protection for Karti Chidambaram

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court (SC) today refused to grant Karti Chidambaram interim protection from a possible arrest by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) .

The top court though did agree to hear his writ petition challenging ED proceedings against him without registering any FIR.

Karti's counsel Kapil Sibal today strenuously pleaded with the SC for interim protection saying his client could be taken into custody by the ED after his CBI custody + expires today. Meanwhile, the national investigative agency has asked a Delhi court to extend their custody of Karti by another eight days. That hearing is scheduled for 2 pm today , reported Times Now.

"We are willing to co-operate in every way and we also did so. I am worried about my arrest," said Karti, via his lawyer Kapil Sibal, to the Supreme Court.

Karti, a son of senior Congress leader P Chidambaram, was arrested last week + on corruption charges, and a day later remanded in CBI custody for five days, that is, until today.

Yesterday, he filed a writ petition in the SC challenging the ED and CBI probe into matters not mentioned in their FIR, which is to do with allegedly dodgy approvals granted to a company called INX Media.

He said in his writ petition in the SC + that he has cooperated fully with the investigating agencies, but that they are looking into matters unrelated to investment in INX Media. He further said the ED and the CBI were trying to drag him into matters not even mentioned in the FIR lodged by the CBI in May last year.

The top court agreed to hear this petition today and then issued a notice to the ED and the CBI on the money laundering case registered against Karti.

The apex court clarified though that the issuance of notice will have no bearing on any proceeding pending against Karti before a trial court or elsewhere.

The SC scheduled the next hearing for March 8.

Karti was arrested by the CBI last week on the basis of statements from INX Media promoters Peter and Indrani Mukerjea, who alleged that they paid him over Rs 3 crore in bribe. The Mukerjeas' claim that they were prompted by Karti's father P Chidambaram, who, as the then-finance minister, was in charge of the Foreign Investment Promotion Board. The board is the nodal agency for granting approvals to companies to access foreign funds.

Karti's counsel Abhishek Manu Singhvi claimed his client he had no connection with the firm which allegedly received kickbacks.

"The arrest is motivated. He hasn't been given a single summon in the last 6 months," Singhvi added.

Singhvi contended that in connection with the May 2017 FIR, the CBI has spent roughly 22 hours with Karti in August last year and no fresh summons were issued to him after August 2017 till today, which shows the agency has nothing more to ask him.

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