New Delhi | Senior advocate Kapil and Abhishek Manu Singhvi have appeared for former Union Minister P Chidambaram in special CBI court.
CBI on Thursday produced Congress leader P Chidambaram, arrested in the INX Media case, before a Delhi court and sought his 5-day custodial interrogation saying there is a need to unearth a larger conspiracy.
He was produced before Special Judge Ajay Kumar Kuhar where Chidambaram’s advocates opposed the CBI plea on the ground that all the other accused, including his son Karti, have already been granted bail in the case.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta accused Chidambaram of being “non-cooperative’ in the case.
Countering the argument, Kapil Sibal asked the court that if CBI wanted to interrogate him, why did they question him only once?
Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for Chidambaram, argued that the first arrest in the case was of Bhaskar Raman, chartered accountant of Karti, who is presently out on bail. Besides that, Peter and Indrani Mukherjea, also accused in the case, are out on default bail as they are in jail in connection with another matter, Sibal said.
“First Information Report or FIR filed around 10 years after alleged offence; P Chidambaram never skipped interrogation”, Sibal said.
Kapil Sibal said the former union minister was last questioned a year ago and there has been no summon after that.
“Now the CBI says they want to question him more and are seeking custodial interrogation,” he said.
Solicitor General (SG) Tushar Mehta, appearing for CBI, told the court that the agency was not extorting confession but it has the right to reach the root of the case.
Senior advocate Abhishek M Singhvi also appearing for him, asserted that P Chidambaram was not a flight risk.
“P Chidambaram is not a flight risk and he cannot answer according to what they want to hear”, he said.
He also argued that there was no allegation of tampering of evidence by CBI. Singhvi further contended that police remand can only be granted in special circumstances and this was a case where there was no new development.
Mehta, during his initial arguments, said that Chidambaram entered into a criminal conspiracy with others in the scam, and accused him of not cooperating.
Sibal also contended that what has been stated in the CBI case diary was not the truth and cannot be considered as evidence.
Chidambaram’s family members, including his wife Nalini and son Karti, are also in the courtroom along with other senior advocates including Dayan Krishnan.
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