Chidambaram's CBI custody in INX Media case to continue till Sep 5, says SC

The Supreme Court Tuesday said the CBI custody of former finance minister P Chidambaram would continue till September 5 in the INX Media corruption case.

The apex court asked Chidambaram's counsel not to press for the interim bail plea, filed before the trial court on Monday and scheduled to be heard today, till September 5.

A bench of justices R Banumathi and A S Bopanna said it would on Thursday hear Chidambaram's plea in which he has challenged the non-bailable warrant (NBW) issued against him as well as the subsequent trial court's orders remanding him in the CBI custody.

While posting the matter for hearing on Thursday, the bench said: "We are conscious that we should not usurp the jurisdiction of the concerned trial court".

At the outset, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the CBI, moved an application seeking recall of the apex court's Monday order. He said that based on the order, Chidambaram's counsel had moved interim bail plea before the trial court.

Mehta said Chidambaram's counsel pressed before the trial court that the interim bail plea should be decided on Monday itself and the trial judge issued notice to the CBI asking it to file response within 24 hours.

"The matter is listed for hearing today before the trial court at 3.30 pm. Less than 24 hour notice was given to the CBI to respond to the interim bail plea which was filed 13 days after his arrest. This should not be the procedure," he told the bench.

After hearing Mehta's submissions, the bench said the interim bail plea be listed for hearing before the trial court on September 5 and the apex court will hear Chidambaram's plea on that day itself.

"The present status will continue till then. CBI's custody will be extended till day after tomorrow (September 5)," the bench said.

Mehta then told the bench: "If we don't take his custody then the law must take its course. We don't need his custody."

Senior advocate Kapil Sibal and Abhishek Manu Singhvi opposed Mehta's submissions and said that if Chidambaram is sent to jail under judicial custody then his plea pending before the apex court would become infructuous.

Sibal told



the bench that they would not press for the interim bail plea before the trial court today and Chidambaram's CBI custody should be extended till Thursday.

The bench, while posting Chidambaram's plea for hearing on September 5, said that it would decide the matter on Thursday itself.

The apex court is also scheduled to pronounce its order on September 5 on Chidambaram's separate plea in which he has challenged the August 20 verdict of the Delhi High Court denying him anticipatory bail in the INX Media money laundering case lodged by the Enforcement Directorate.

The court had on Monday given partial relief to Chidambaram saying he would not be sent to Tihar Jail after the former finance minister offered to be under house arrest instead of being sent to prison.

It had modified the order and advanced the hearing for today from Thursday (September 5) on Chidambaram's plea challenging the NBW against him and remand orders passed by trial court.

The order was modified on oral mentioning after Mehta said that as per his calculation "15 days remand period of Chidambaram would expire tomorrow or at best day after tomorrow" and CBI cannot take his custody for three more days.

When the bench asked the CBI to file reply to Chidambaram's plea and posted the matter for hearing on September 5, Sibal had said, "Let him be in house arrest till then. He is not running away. Let the petition not become infructuous".

When the bench said Chidambaram's counsel can request the trial court to give him interim relief, Sibal said the trial judge would "reject" it.

Additional Solicitor General K M Nataraj, appearing for CBI, had opposed the grant of interim relief to Chidambaram and said an accused cannot say that he wants to be in either police custody or judicial custody.

He had said the trial court would decide on issue of remand and no interim direction should be passed by the apex court.

The CBI had lodged an FIR on May 15, 2017, alleging irregularities in Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) clearance granted to INX Media group for receiving overseas funds of Rs 305 crore in 2007 during Chidambaram's tenure as union finance minister.