Delhi HC disposes of ED's plea seeking rectification of Chidambaram's bail order

The Delhi High Court on Tuesday disposed of a petition filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) seeking rectification of an order passed in the bail petition of former Union finance minister P Chidambaram and clarified that there was "no error" in it.

Justice Suresh Kumar Kait said that paragraph 36 mentioned that the prosecution had relied upon CCTV footage and bank details. "The CCTV mention in the paragraph is a clerical error. The applicant neither submitted such a thing in its counter-affidavit nor in the material placed in a sealed cover," Justice Kait said.

This came after the facts from an unconnected case of Delhi-based lawyer -- Rohit Tandon -- allegedly crept into several paragraphs of the order. Subsequently, the ED moved an application in the court yesterday seeking rectification of factual errors in the order copy.

He added, "In paragraph 39, the only law is discussed and thus there is no error and hence no clarification is needed."

Justice Kait further said that the clarification issued by him does not fall under Section 362 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) which prohibits the court from altering a judgment once the order is signed.

During the course of proceedings today, senior advocate Dayan Krishnan, appearing for Chidambaram, strongly opposed ED's application and said that the court has no power to make any alteration to order already passed as the same is barred under CrPC.

"The mistakes they are asking to make correction are not clerical mistakes, they want a collateral advantage," he added.

Another counsel Arshdeep Singh, appearing on behalf of the accused, asked the court not to entertain ED's plea.

Chidambaram was seeking bail in a case pertaining to the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) clearance given to INX Media to the tune of Rs 305 crore in 2007 by Chidambaram when he was the Finance Minister.

ED, which is probing the money laundering case, had arrested Chidambaram last month. He is currently lodged in judicial custody in Tihar jail.