The Supreme Court on Friday issued notice to the CBI on former Union minister P Chidambaram’s plea seeking bail in the INX Media graft case. Fixing the matter for hearing on October 15, a bench of Justices R Banumathi and Hrishikesh Roy asked the CBI to file its response by October 14. Chidambaram, who is currently in judicial custody at Tihar jail, had approached the apex court against the Delhi High Court’s September 30 order dismissing his bail plea. The senior Congress leader, 74, has been in custody since his arrest by the CBI on August 21. Appearing for him, senior advocate Kapil Sibal said the HC order was in favour of the accused on the question of whether he was a flight risk and whether he would tamper with evidence. Justice Banumathi then queried what had happened to the Enforcement Directorate (ED) case. Chidambaram’s counsel Abhishek Manu Singhvi said the ED had not arrested him. Appearing for the ED, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta said he will take instructions and inform the court. Rejecting his bail plea, the HC had noted that the investigation was at an advanced stage and the “possibility” of him influencing witnesses cannot be ruled out. Challenging the same, Chidambaram told the apex court that his continued incarceration is in the “form of punishment” and that the liberty of an individual cannot be denied on the basis of “anonymous and unverified allegations”.
