The Supreme Court granted protection to P Chidambaram from being arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) till August 26.
P Chidambaram had filed pleas for anticipatory bails against being arrested by CBI and ED before the Supreme Court. Since he was already under CBI custody till August 26, the Supreme Court did not intervene in the plea filed against the CBI. Granting interim protection for the former Union Minister from being arrested by ED in the INX Media case, the Supreme Court said that it will hear his pleas against the arrest by CBI and ED on Monday. The apex court bench comprising Justices R. Banumathi and A.S. Bopanna said that it will also hear Chidambaram's plea against the CBI remand on the same day.
Senior Congress leaders and renowned lawyers Abhishek Manu Singhvi and Kapil Sibal took up the arguments on behalf of Chidambaram in a packed courtroom. The Court first heard the petition against the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). Taking a swipe at the government, Sibal said the "economy is in ICU" and the Modi dispensation has issued a lookout notice" for all those defending civil liberties.
Chidambaram, who was arrested by the CBI on Wednesday, had approached the Delhi High Court on August 20 seeking protection from arrest in the high-profile case. His petition, however, was rejected.
After a dramatic turn of events, the 73-year-old former Union Minister was arrested on Wednesday night from his upscale residence in Jor Bagh area of the capital. A Delhi court on Thursday allowed CBI a four-day custody of Chidambaram.
Both the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate have registered separate cases linked to the INX Media case against Chidambaram who served as Union Home and Finance Minister in the UPA government from 2004 to 2014.
(With inputs from IANS)