No relief to Karti Chidambram on ED summons in INX Media case

The Supreme Court on Friday refused to interfere with the summons issued by the Enforcement Directorate against Karti Chidambram - son of former Finance Minister P. Chidambaram - in INX Media case asking him to appear before it on March 1.

Refusing to interfere with the summons, the bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra, Justice Amitava Roy and Justice D.Y. Chandrachud, however, adjourned the hearing till March 6 permitting him to make a representation to ED seeking more time to appear before it.

The court order came as Additional Solicitor General Tushar Mehta also opposed a plea by Karti Chidambram seeking relief in a matter totally unrelated to one being heard by the top court.

"We make it clear that we have not dealt with the maintainability of the applications which has been raised with all the seriousness" by Additional Solicitor General Tushar Mehta appearing for the CBI, they said.

Karti Chidambram is facing probe for his alleged role in facilitating the FIPB clearance for the INX Media Ltd. when his father was the Union Finance Minister.

Opposing the application, Mehta said: "I agree he is not a common criminal. But would your lordship allow such application if a common criminal had filed it."

He said that Karti Chidambram has made a plea for interim bail in a matter that is not even part of the subject matter that being heard by the court.

Telling the court that the CBI has not investigated the matter since August 2017 and now ED has moved in, senior counsel Kapil Sibal said pointing out that the latter can move in only under Section 3 if there are proceeds of crime.

Sibal said that Karti Chidambram has already appeared twice before ED and now when he is reaching India on late in the evening on February 28, they have called him on March 1.

--IANS

pk/vd