INX Media Case: Chidambaram's CBI Custody To End Today

The CBI custody of former Home and Finance Minister P Chidambaram will come to an end as he will be produced before the Supreme Court today. The Court will hear his plea challenging special court’s order to remand him to CBI custody. As per the law, the maximum period of police custody in corruption cases like the one in which Chidambaram is booked cannot go beyond 15 days. 

Accusing the central agency of not producing documents related to money trial, Chidambaram said, “They have been continuously showing me three files. Even today the same files were repeatedly shown to me for more than 2.5 hours.”

Earlier, a Delhi Court accepted CBI's plea to extend Chidambaram's custodial interrogation by five days on Friday. Earlier, Chidambaram was produced before Special Judge Ajay Kumar Kuhar on expiry of his 4-day CBI custody. Chidambaram was arrested on August 21 and produced before the court the next day; since then he is in the CBI custody. 

However, the Supreme Court on Thursday said it will pronounce on September 5 the order on plea of former finance minister P Chidambaram in the INX Media money laundering case lodged by the Enforcement Directorate. A bench of Justices R Banumathi and A S Bopanna also extended interim protection from arrest granted to Chidambaram till next Thursday.

The CBI had arrested senior Congress leader and former finance minister P Chidambaram from his residence in New Delhi in connection with INX media corruption case soon after his dramatic press conference at the party headquarters following day-long accusations of evading arrest. The arrest was made after the CBI reached the Congress office but failed to arrest Chidambaram, who evaded the arrest by escaping from back-door.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Chidambaram's CBI custody to end today
• Chidambaram was arrested on August 21
• The arrest was made after the CBI reached the Congress office