New Delhi: Former finance minister P. Chidambaram will be subjected to three more days of custodial interrogation by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in a corruption case arising from the INX Media scam as a Delhi court remanded him in the agency’s custody till September 2.
The order was passed by special judge Ajay Kumar Kuhar before whom Mr Chidambaram was produced on the expiry of four-day custodial interrogation granted on August 26.
While pronouncing the order, the judge said, “Investigation being the prerogative of the investigating officer and given the fact that the record is voluminous, the accused needs to be confronted. Thus, more time is required. In view of the submissions made, the accused is sent to police custody remand till September 2.”
Mr Chidambaram, 73, has been already subjected to custodial interrogation by the CBI for eight days since his arrest on August 21, after the Delhi high court on August 20 dismissed his anticipatory bail application. All through the hearing, Mr Chidambaram’s son Karti was also present in the court.
The CBI moved the application seeking extension five more days of police custody of Mr Chidambaram on the ground that extensive interrogation was conducted and he was confronted with relevant records and statements of witnesses.
But the investigating agency said that despite best possible efforts, investigation cannot be completed due to his evasive and non-cooperative attitude and further time is required.
Additional Solicitor General (ASG) K.M. Nataraj, representing the CBI, said Mr Chidambaram has been partially interrogated and he is required to be confronted with further documents.
Mr Chidambaram said there is no justification to put him in custody and ask the same questions. He said he had been questioned by the agency for 55 hours and asked some 400 questions.
As the ASG objected to Mr Chidambaram making his own arguments, the former Union minister retorted, “I am not at your mercy; I am at the court’s mercy here.”
After going through the case diary, the judge said the grounds which the CBI has given for further custodial interrogation are vague. He said the CBI should have asked for custodial interrogation of Mr Chidambaram for 15 days on the very first day of his production.
The investigating agency said that Mr Chidambaram was not giving straight answers, though he has been questioned for 8-10 hours every day. Mr Natraj said there was a case of further extension of his custody. He said the former finance minister had agreed before the apex court that he has no problem if the CBI custody is extended till Monday.
Noting the submission, the judge asked Mr Chidambaram’s lawyer Dayan Krishnan and CBI to discuss and decided how much custody is required. “What’s the use of this court?,” the judge asked. Mr Krishnan said till now 55 hours of questioning has taken place and not a single document was there on money trail. He said the investigation is also not fair and three files have been shown to Mr Chidambaram 20 times and claimed that there is not a shred of documents on money trail. “Three files have been shown to me over 20 times. Each and every question answered without a pause,” Mr Chidambaram’s lawyer said. This submission was opposed by the CBI which said money trail issue is not for the agency to look into.
Asked by the court whether Mr Chidambaram was opposing the extension of police custody, he said there are a number of objections. To a specific question by the judge the lawyer said Mr Chidambaram can be sent to CBI custody till Monday, that is, September 2. “Since the matter is pending in the Supreme Court, I am willing to be in custody till Monday,” the defence lawyer said.
The former union minister stood up at the accused box to make his case himself, saying there was “no justification” to extend his custody. “What happened in Supreme Court was a mutual consideration between my lawyer and the Solicitol General as the court posted my plea for Monday. My instruction to my counsel was to oppose the plea if the agency asks for five days of custody,” he said.
Mr Chidambaram said there is no justification to put him in custody and ask the same questions. He said he had been questioned by the agency for 55 hours and asked some 400 questions. As the additional solicitor-general objected to Mr Chidambaram making his own arguments, the former minister retorted: “I’m not at your mercy; I’m at the court’s mercy here.”
Mr Chidambaram has been accused of facilitating a huge infusion of foreign funds into the media company INX Media in 2007, when he was Finance Minister, at the instance of his son Karti, who allegedly received kickbacks for his role. Karti Chidambaram — also named in the case — is out on bail. Mr Chidambaram was arrested amid high drama from his home last week by CBI officials who scaled the walls of his house to get in. Since then, he has been in the agency’s custody
