A Special CBI Court in Delhi on Monday extended former finance minister P. Chidambaram's CBI custody till August 30 in the INX Media corruption case.
The probe agency had sought extension of Chidambaram's custody by five days after hearing the arguments for nearly 40 minutes on Monday.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta and Additional Solicitor General K.N. Natrajan, representing the CBI, said there was sufficient ground for extension of Chidambaram's custodial interrogation as he was confronted with a co-accused during the interrogation from August 23-26.
Also read
- Law Commission was bypassed in enacting new criminal laws, says Chidambaram
- Tamil Nadu bypolls: AIADMK, BJP fighting election through ‘proxy’, slams Chidambaram
- Chidambaram to head Congress's manifesto committee for 2024 LS polls
- Caste survey must, Centre should conduct it with census: P Chidambaram
It was necessary to confront Chidambaram with regard to relevant e-mails and it was absolutely relevant to go into the roots of the issue, Mehta said.
However, senior lawyer Kapil Sibal, representing Chidambaram, said an accused cannot be put in custody till the investigators get the evidence and asked the agency to show basis of allegation of USD 5 million against Chidambaram.
The senior Congress leader was brought by the CBI on expiry of his four-day custodial interrogation which the agency had secured on August 22.
Chidambaram was produced in the CBI court hours after the Supreme Court refused to entertain his plea challenging the Delhi High Court order which had dismissed his anticipatory bail plea in the corruption case lodged by the CBI.
The top court, however, extended till Tuesday the protection from arrest given to Chidambaram in the money laundering case lodged by the Enforcement Directorate.
Chidambaram was arrested by the CBI on August 21, pursuant to an arrest warrant issued against him by the trial court on the same day in the case.
The CBI had registered an FIR on May 15, 2017, alleging irregularities in the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) clearance granted to the INX Media group for receiving overseas funds of Rs 305 crore in 2007 during Chidambaram's tenure as the finance minister.
Thereafter, the ED lodged a money laundering case against him in 2017.
With inputs from PTI