Supreme Court to study documents CBI filed against Karti on November 9

Supreme Court (File)

The Supreme Court will peruse on November 9 probe material produced by the CBI in the case against former finance minister P Chidambaram’s son Karti Chidambaram. The CBI is probing alleged irregularities in the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) clearance given to INX Media for FDI during Chidambaram’s tenure as finance minister.

Turning down opposition from senior counsel Kapil Sibal, who appeared for Karti, a bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud decided to examine the contents of the sealed cover at 3 pm on the set date. “We do not know what is inside…How can we exercise our powers unless we look at it,” the CJI said.

The court was hearing a plea by Karti seeking permission to travel abroad to attend a lecture, for the admission of his daughter in Cambridge University and to London to attend a meeting of the Association of Tennis Professionals Committee. The CBI had issued a Look Out Circular restraining him from leaving the country. Though the Madras High Court stayed the circular, it was revived by the apex court.

Sibal argued that according to law, the accused should be given a copy of the contents if it is opened. Appearing for the agency, ASG Tushar Mehta said, “Your lordships will not know what the matter is unless you see what’s inside the cover.”