New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday extended, till March 26, the interim protection from arrest granted to Karti Chidambaram by the Delhi High Court in the INX Media money laundering case.
A bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra, Justice A.M. Khanwilkar and Justice D.Y. Chandrachud also transferred to itself the cases pending before the Delhi High Court relating to adjudication of Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) power to arrest an accused under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and also a plea filed by Karti Chidambaram seeking protection from arrest by ED in the case.
The bench’s order came after taking into note that several high courts in the country have given conflicting views on interpretation of Section 19 (power to arrest an accused under PLMA) of the PMLA and that it would deal with the issue of interpretation of the section.
Additional Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Central government, had referred to the orders passed by different high courts, including Delhi and Bombay, on the issue.
Earlier in the day, the Delhi High Court extended Karti Chidambaram’s protection from arrest in the ED case from March 20 to March 22.