NEW DELHI:
The Supreme Court on Friday deferred hearing till Monday on a petition filed by former Finance Minister P. Chidambaram against the Delhi High Court’s verdict refusing him protection from arrest in the INX Media case.
An apex court bench comprising Justices R. Banumathi and A.S. Bopanna said that it will also hear Chidambaram’s plea against the CBI remand on the same day. Senior Congress leaders and renowned lawyers Abhishek Manu Singhvi and Kapil Sibal took up the arguments on behalf of Chidambaram in a packed courtroom. The Court first heard the petition against the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
Taking a swipe at the government, Sibal said the “economy is in ICU” and the Modi dispensation has issued a lookout notice” for all those defending civil liberties. Chidambaram, who was arrested by the CBI on Wednesday, had approached the Delhi High Court on August 20 seeking protection from arrest in the high-profile case. His petition, however, was rejected.
After a dramatic turn of events, the 73-year-old former Union Minister was arrested on Wednesday night from his upscale residence in Jor Bagh area of the capital. A Delhi court on Thursday allowed CBI a four-day custody of Chidambaram. Both the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate have registered separate cases linked to the INX Media case against Chidambaram who served as Union Home and Finance Minister in the UPA government from 2004 to 2014.
