Days after a Kolkata trial court chargesheeted Nalini Chidamabaram in Saradha Chit fund scam, a journalist has written to the Chief Justice of India accusing her and her husband, former Union Minister P Chidambaram of misusing their legal positions. In his letter, the journalist requested the CJI to suspend the Senior Advocate designations of Chidambaram and Nalini Chidambaram till the trials on both of them end.
J Gopikrishnan, a Special Correspondent with The Pioneer newspaper, wrote to the Chief Justice of India on Wednesday. In his letter he stated that P Chidambaram was a Senior Advocate in the Supreme Court of India and that he was misusing that position in cases in which he is an accused. He said that Chidambaram appeared in a trial court on January 11, 2019 wearing Senior Advocate’s dress. “It is really unethical for a Senior Advocate title holding person to appear in a trial court in Senior Advocate’s dress where he is an accused. Here Chidambaram appeared as an accused while his advocates were arguing for him,” read the letter.
Gopikrishnan’s letter further alleged that Chidambaram was getting undue benefits from the 2G court headed by Judge OP Saini. Accusing the lower court of overriding the orders of the Supreme Court, Gopikrishnan wrote, “He got Interim Protection from arrest, a few days after Supreme Court’s 2G Bench headed by Justice Arun Mishra ordered CBI and ED on March 12, 2018 to finish the probe in Aircel-Maxis case in six months, where Chidambaram is the main accused.” He also accused that Chidambaram had received this protection seven times from the OP Saini-headed Trial Court.
Gopikrishnan described the Interim Protection from arrest enjoyed by Chidambaram, which was obtained from Delhi High Court without approaching the Patiala House court. He also explained that in the case of Nalini Chidambaram who was chargesheeted by a trial court in Kolkata for bribery in the Saradha scam, she was able to obtain an Interim Protection from arrest from the Madras High Court which was followed by another interim protection by the Egmore Metropolitan Magistrate Court. “Respected Chief Justice of India, such kind of benevolence from Courts expected for a common citizen?” read the letter.
Slamming the lower courts for acting in a non-committal manner towards Nalini Chidambaram, Gopikrishnan wrote that she is also facing prosecution by the Income Tax department under the Black Money Act. Alleging that these instances showed that the two of them were misusing the designation given to them by the Apex court, Gopikrishnan wrote, “The above mentioned incidents creates serious of doubts on the integrity of Judiciary, when accused persons are holding the coveted Senior Advocate Designation granted Supreme Courts and High Courts.”
Explaining these predicaments, Gopikrishnan prayed the CJI to implement a system in which all Senior Advocates file an affidavit annually mentioning the cases against them and the nature of such cases.
Meanwhile, on Wednesday, CJI Ranjan Gogoi slammed Senior Counsel KV Vishwanathan’s plea for an urgent hearing on Karti Chidambaram to go abroad. "Who is Karthi? Karthi Chidambaram, you are saying? Let him stay where he is. We have more important matters to decide", said the Chief Justice adding, "We are not interested. File an application explaining your reasons...It is 10:30 and you are out of turn."