"Drama For Viewing Pleasure Of Some": Karti Chidambaram On Father's Arrest

Even as former Union Minister P Chidambaram was arrested by investigation agencies from his residence in Delhi's Jorbagh amid high drama on Wednesday night, his son Karti took to social media to claim that the developments were nothing more than "drama and spectacle" being enacted for the viewing pleasure of those affiliated to the ruling BJP.

"The drama and spectacle being enacted by the agencies is to simply sensationalise and satisfy the voyeuristic pleasure of some," he tweeted, adding that he and his father are victims of a "political witch-hunt".

Investigators eventually gained entry into the house and arrested the former Union Minister around 9:45 pm. Tensions escalated as Congress supporters were seen leaping onto the car in which Mr Chidambaram was being driven away.

Both Mr Chidambaram and Karti are accused of receiving kickbacks from INX Media for illegally facilitating investment from foreign sources. After going incommunicado for over a day, the former Union Minister made a surprise appearance at the Congress headquarters on Wednesday evening. CBI and Enforcement Directorate jumped into action soon afterwards.

"This is a political witch-hunt. Outrageous media leaks are the preferred tactics of the Enforcement Directorate. I have nothing to do with INX or FIPB. All my assets and liabilities are duly declared in statutory and regulatory filings," Karti Chidambaram claimed in another tweet, before going on to express his gratitude to party leaders Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi, Kapil Sibal, Abhishek Manu Singhvi and Salman Khurshid.

After his father's arrest, Karti Chidambaram told mediapersons outside his house in Chennai that the entire exercise was carried out for the sole purpose of creating a media spectacle. "I have been raided four times. Nobody in India has been raided four times. I appeared for over 20 summons too, with each session taking a minimum of 10 to 12 hours. I have been a guest of the CBI for 12 days. But there is still no chargesheet for alleged events that apparently took place in 2008, and for which an FIR was filed in 2017. This shows that there is no case," he said.

When asked if he believed that the arrest was orchestrated by the BJP, Karti Chidambaram said: "Yes, of course, who else? You think Donald Trump? No."

In his short address to the media at the party office, Mr Chidambaram had pointed out that he has not been named an accused in the case. However, the Union Minister said he has faith in the law "even if it is applied by an unequal hand" by investigation agencies.

"Respect for the law can mean only one thing -- await (the Supreme Court's) decision on Friday... Until Friday, let's hope the lamp of liberty will shine bright," he said in what was seen as a message to the CBI and Enforcement Directorate.

The Supreme Court will hear his appeal for anticipatory bail on Friday. It was rejected by the Delhi High Court yesterday, with Justice Sunil Gaur calling Mr Chidambaram a "kingpin" in the case.