Karti Chidambaram seeks SC nod to visit UK for lecture

New Delhi: Karti Chidambaram, son of former finance minister P. Chidambaram, has filed a fresh application in the Supreme Court seeking permission to visit the United Kingdom next week in connection with a lecture on “the rule of law and democratic development in Pakistan”.

On October 11, the previous senior counsel Kapil Sibal had informed the court that his client Karti Chidambaram was not interested to go abroad on October 19 to admit his daughter in Cambridge University and that the validity of the lookout circular could be decided expeditiously.

Following this submission, a three-judge bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices A.M. Kanwilkar and D.Y. Chandrachud decided to examine whether the CBI can be allowed to submit documents in a sealed cover for adjudicating legal validity of the lookout circular, to prevent Karti from going abroad.

In the new application, Karti said due to the lookout circular he could not visit Cambridge University in the UK to admit his daughter.

But now he had to visit the UK in connection with a lecture to be delivered on November 10 under the aegis of Centre for South Asian Studies, University of Cambridge, which he supported annually.

He said the lecture was on the subject “The Rule of Law and Democratic Development in Pakistan” by Asma Jahangir, human rights lawyer and activist at the Winstanley Lecture Theatre, Trinity College, Cambridge. He has to attend the meeting of the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) in London on November 11 and 12. Again he will have to make a second trip to the UK in connection with his daughter’s admission to Cambridge University, as he could not travel earlier due to the circular. He sought permission to visit the UK between November 5 and 15 and from December 1 to 7.

Earlier, Mr Sibal had asked the court as to why the petitioner’s right to travel abroad is curtailed while even an accused facing serious charges are allowed to go abroad. The bench is hearing the issue relating to the lookout circular issued against Karti Chidambaram to prevent him from going abroad. The CBI registered an FIR against Karti and others on May 15, 2017, for alleged irregularities in the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) clearance granted to INX Media for receiving overseas funds in 2007 when Karti’s father was the Union finance minister.