Karti Chidambaram was arrested by the CBI at Mumbai airport after he returned from UK
NEW DELHI:
Karti Chidambaram, son of senior Congress leader P Chidambaram, has asked the Delhi High Court to cancel proceedings against him by the Enforcement Directorate, or ED, in the INX Media money laundering case. His lawyer Salman Khurshid told NDTV that the petition was filed because they anticipated that the ED could arrest him once he was released on bail by the CBI.
Mr Chidambaram, 46, had asked the Supreme Court to intervene but was today told to approach the high court instead.
Justice S Ravindra Bhat of the Delhi High Court will hear the petition tomorrow.
Karti Chidambaram was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation, or CBI, last week on charges that he facilitated investment approvals for the INX media group back in 2007 and 2008, using the influence of his father, then Finance Minister P Chidambaram. In return, Karti is alleged to have been paid 700,000 dollars by the two former co-owners of the media house, Peter and Indrani Mukerjea.
The 46-year-old businessman has been in custody of CBI investigators since his arrest on 28 February last year and will be produced before a Special CBI Judge tomorrow. His bail application is also expected to be heard by the judge tomorrow.
Mr Khurshid, a senior lawyer and former minister said they had asked the Supreme Court, and now the High Court, to cancel the summons by the ED because they anticipated "sequential arrests".
"What we did in the Supreme Court was to anticipate sequential arrests, that when you get bail in one matter, then you are picked up in another matter... We wanted that to be clear... because the law doesn't allow that to be done," he explains.
Mr Chidambaram has argued that the ED has no jurisdiction to conduct any investigation unrelated to the allegations in the FIR lodged by the CBI on 15 May 2017.
Karti Chidambaram was arrested on his return from the UK at the Chennai airport. He has repeatedly said he was being framed by the agencies at the instance of the government.
Mr Chidambaram, 46, had asked the Supreme Court to intervene but was today told to approach the high court instead.
Justice S Ravindra Bhat of the Delhi High Court will hear the petition tomorrow.
Karti Chidambaram was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation, or CBI, last week on charges that he facilitated investment approvals for the INX media group back in 2007 and 2008, using the influence of his father, then Finance Minister P Chidambaram. In return, Karti is alleged to have been paid 700,000 dollars by the two former co-owners of the media house, Peter and Indrani Mukerjea.
The 46-year-old businessman has been in custody of CBI investigators since his arrest on 28 February last year and will be produced before a Special CBI Judge tomorrow. His bail application is also expected to be heard by the judge tomorrow.
Mr Khurshid, a senior lawyer and former minister said they had asked the Supreme Court, and now the High Court, to cancel the summons by the ED because they anticipated "sequential arrests".
"What we did in the Supreme Court was to anticipate sequential arrests, that when you get bail in one matter, then you are picked up in another matter... We wanted that to be clear... because the law doesn't allow that to be done," he explains.
Mr Chidambaram has argued that the ED has no jurisdiction to conduct any investigation unrelated to the allegations in the FIR lodged by the CBI on 15 May 2017.
Karti Chidambaram was arrested on his return from the UK at the Chennai airport. He has repeatedly said he was being framed by the agencies at the instance of the government.
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