Chennai: Senior Congress leader and former Finance Minister P Chidambaram’s CBI custody ended today in the INX Media corruption case and he is expected to be produced before the trail court.
Meanwhile, appearing for Enforcement Directorate, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta submitted the transcript of interrogation with Chidambaram to the Supreme Court today in a sealed envelope, as per the order.
The Supreme Court stated that the order on anticipatory bail plea would be pronounced 5 September.
A bench of Justices R Banumathi and A S Bopanna also extended interim protection from arrest granted to Chidambaram till next Thursday.
Chidambaram’s plea in the apex court has challenged the 20 August verdict of the Delhi High Court denying him anticipatory bail in the INX Media money laundering case lodged by the ED.
Earlier, Tushar Mehta, said there is no requirement of ‘exposing the materials, sources and evidence to the accused at the stage of pre-arrest bail’ and investigation is the exclusive domain of the probe agency.
“Money laundering is an offence against the society and the nation and probe agency has a right and duty to unearth the entire conspiracy,” he told the bench, adding that the apex court has consistently held that economic offences are ‘gravest of grave’ irrespective of the sentence prescribed for it.
“I have materials to show that laundering of money continued after 2009 and even today (in the INX Media case),” he said, adding that the ED wants to interrogate Chidambaram in custody and without the ‘protective umbrella’ of anticipatory bail.