Chidambaram says he was denied pillow, chair in jail; asks adequate diet

New Delhi: P Chidambaram, the former finance minister, on Thursday complained that he has not been given a pillow and chair in Tihar Jail where he has been lodged since September 5 in connection with INX Media case.

On Thursday, a CBI court in Delhi extended Chidambaram’s judicial custody till October 3 as the investigation agency sought an extension of his remand.

The Congress leader’s lawyer Kapil Sibal told top court: “He doesn’t have a chair in the cell… there is no pillow for the bed, this is causing back pain. There were 2-3 chairs outside where wardens etc would sit and I would also sit. Then these were taken away.”

Sibal also moved an application on behalf of Chidambaram seeking regular medical check-up and adequate supplementary diet during judicial custody in Tihar Jail. He requested the court to allow Chidambaram to be medically examined in All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS).

Sibal said that the 73-year old Congress leader is suffering from various ailments like coronary artery disease, hypertension, impaired glycemia and has lost weight during the custody.

“Health of any inmate is of concern. Whatever is permissible in law, would be done by the jail authorities,” Solicitor General Tushar Mehta said.

The court in its order said that the request for chair and pillow shall be considered by the jail superintendent favourably ‘considering the issue of back pain’.

The CBI is probing alleged irregularities in the grant of Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) clearance to INX Media for receiving foreign investment to the tune of Rs 305 crore in 2007, when Chidambaram was finance minister in the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government. CBI registered an FIR in the case on May 15, 2017.