P. Chidambaram after his arrest | PTI
The CBI is expected to produce former Union minister and Congress leader P. Chidambaram in a special court in Delhi after 2pm on Thursday in connection with the INX Media case. Chidambaram is likely to be produced at the CBI court on Rouse Avenue.
Chidambaram was arrested amid dramatic scenes from his home in Jor Bagh in Delhi on Wednesday night. The CBI had claimed Chidambaram had gone missing and failed to appear before it after the Delhi High Court had rejected his plea seeking protection from arrest. On Wednesday, the Supreme Court also decided against passing any order on a plea from Chidambaram seeking interim relief from the Delhi High Court order.
Chidambaram, who was home minister in the UPA government, spent the night after his arrest at the CBI headquarters on Lodhi Road. According to PTI, Chidambaram will be questioned on Thursday morning by CBI DySP R. Parthasarathy, who is heading the probe into alleged corruption in the Rs 305 crore clearance given to INX Media in 2007 when Chidambaram was finance minister.
The firm once promoted by Peter and Indrani Mukerjea, both in jail for murdering latter's daughter Sheena Bora, had allegedly made payments to a firm linked to finance minister's son Karti Chidambaram, the CBI has said in the FIR.
According to reports, the CBI could ask the special court for up to 10 days of custody for Chidambaram. Moreover, since he has been arrested, the plea filed by Chidambaram in the Supreme Court—which effectively sought protection from arrest in the case—has become “infructuous”, claimed experts. Chidambaram will now have to seek bail from the CBI special court.
On Wednesday, while protesting his innocence, Chidambaram had appealed to the CBI to wait till the Supreme Court took up his petition on Friday. He had said, “I shall respect the law even if it is applied with an unequal hand by the investigating agencies. In the name of freedom, I can only hope and pray that the investigating agencies will also respect the law. In the present circumstances, respect for the law can mean only one thing—await the decision of the Honourable Supreme Court on Friday.”
(With inputs from Namrata Biji Ahuja)
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