Former Finance Minister P Chidambaram, who is in CBI custody in the INX Media case, on Tuesday told the Supreme Court that the probe agency ED wanted his arrest just to “humiliate” him.
He asked how he can be called a “kingpin” for an alleged offence with retrospective effect.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday extended till today protection from arrest by the Enforcement Directorate granted to former finance minister P Chidambaram in the INX Media money laundering case.
The apex court had on Monday extended till Tuesday the protection from arrest given to Chidambaram in the INX Media money laundering case lodged by the ED.
The ED had told the top court that it needs custody of Chidambaram for interrogation while justifying the claim on the basis of the Delhi High Court order saying that the HC called him the kingpin.
Chidambaram’s family has alleged that the government’s motive was to “demonise and humiliate” him.
“We challenge the government to produce a shred of evidence in support of one undisclosed bank account, one undisclosed property or one shell company anywhere in the world,” Karti Chidambaram said in a statement on Twitter.
Karti is also an accused in the INX Media case and is out on bail.
Senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi, appearing for Chidambaram, said the former Union Minister was not evasive during his questioning and has fully cooperated in the probe.
“You (Enforcement Directorate) want to arrest me, but for what reason? The answer is – to humiliate me, to humiliate me and to humiliate me, minute by minute and hour by hour,” he said, representing his client. He said the probe agency filed the case in 2017, whereas the alleged offences alleged are of the period 2007-2008.
Chidambaram asked the top court to tell the probe agency to show transcripts of his questioning in the alleged money laundering case.
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. The CBI had registered an FIR on 15 May 2017.
Thereafter, the ED lodged a money laundering case against him in 2017.
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.
In a dramatic turn of events, senior Congress leader was arrested by the CBI on August 21 as the agency officials scaled the walls of his Jor Bagh residence in Delhi, minutes after his press conference at the party headquarters where Chidambaram said he was “not hiding from the law but seeking protection of the law”.
Later, a CBI team arrived in a car to take the senior Congress leader into custody.