In an unprecedented plea, former finance minister P Chidambaram on Thursday offered in the Supreme Court to remain in CBI custody till September 2 in the INX Media case.
Chidambaram, who was arrested on August 21, is in the CBI custody till today and will be produced before the concerned trial court today on expiry of his remand.
The offer was made after a bench of Justices R Banumathi and AS Bopanna said it would hear on September 2 the plea of Chidambaram challenging the orders passed by the trial court remanding him in the CBI custody in the corruption case.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court will pronounce its order on September 5 on the anticipatory bail plea of Chidambaram in a case being probed by ED in INX Media scam and directed that documents linked to the case be submitted under an authenticated sealed cover.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta said that such a submission should be made before the CBI judge on Friday when Chidambaram’s CBI remand will end and he will be produced before the court. However, the court refused to comment on this and extended Chidambaram’s protection from arrest by ED in INX Media case till September 5.
In yet another twist at the fag-end of the hearing, the court directed the ED to submit its documents connected with the case in a sealed cover and asked the probe agency to ensure the seal is authenticated.
The agency will have to submit these documents in a day. Chidambaram’s lawyers insisted that ED produce the transcripts of his questioning held on December 19, 2018, and January 1 and 21, 2019. Mehta contested, stating that investigations have moved beyond the time-period concerned, and in fact, the case is an advanced stage at the moment.
Mehta had consistently maintained that documents connected to the case can be submitted to the court instead of the accused, as it would jeopardize the investigations.
Earlier on Thursday, the ED had told the Supreme Court that money laundering is an offence against “society and nation” as it said it needed custodial interrogation of the former minister to unearth the larger conspiracy in the INX Media money case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act or PMLA.
The ED said that it cannot show the material collected during the investigation into Chidambaram at this stage as the evidence related to money trail of layers of money might be erased.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Enforcement Directorate, said there is no requirement of “exposing the materials, sources and evidence to the accused at the stage of pre-arrest bail” and investigation is the exclusive domain of the probe agency.
“Money laundering is an offence against the society and the nation and probe agency has a right and duty to unearth the entire conspiracy,” he told the bench, adding that the top court has consistently held that economic offences are “gravest of grave” irrespective of the sentence prescribed for it.
“I have materials to show that laundering of money continued after 2009 and even today (in the INX Media case),” he said, adding that the Enforcement Directorate wants to interrogate Mr Chidambaram in custody and without the “protective umbrella” of anticipatory bail.
The Supreme Court is hearing a plea filed by P Chidambaram challenging the August 20 verdict of the Delhi High Court denying him anticipatory bail in the INX Media corruption and money laundering cases lodged by the CBI and ED.
P Chidambaram was arrested on the night of August 21 amid high drama by CBI officials at his residence.
The INX Media case relates to alleged irregularities in Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) clearance given to the media group for foreign investment to the tune of Rs 305 crore in 2007 when Chidambaram was finance minister.
Chidambaram and his son were named by Peter and Indrani Mukerjea, who owned INX Media at the time and are currently in jail in connection with the murder of Indrani Mukerjea’s daughter Sheena Bora.