Former finance minister P. Chidambaram won't be sent to Tihar jail for now in the INX Media case as the Supreme Court on Monday extended his CBI custody till Thursday.
Chidambaram asked the Supreme Court to either put him under house arrest or give him interim bail in the case. The court said that house arrests are only for political prisoners.
Kapil Sibal, appearing for Chidambaram, argued that the former Union minister is 74 and some form of protection must be given to him. Chidambaram has been in CBI custody since August 21 when he was arrested following dramatic scenes at his residence.
“There must be some protection to Chidambaram. He is 74 years old. Let him be put under house arrest and not sent to Tihar Jail,” Kapil Sibal told the apex court, adding that the Congress leader must not be humiliated in this manner.
The court ordered that Chidambaram's CBI custody be extended to three more days.
The CBI said that the special CBI court has to decide on where Chidambaram is to be held and said that the Congress leader and his son Karti need to “dealt with an iron hand”.
The probe agency is investigating the roles of Chidambaram and Karti Chidambaram in the case, in which foreign funds were facilitated into INX Media company in 2007 when the former was finance minister.
INX Media co-founders Peter and Indrani Mukerjea, who are currently in jail for the murder of Indrani's daughter Sheena Bora, reportedly gave incriminating details about her meetings with Chidambaram and his son.
