P Chidambaram arrested to divert attention from Article 370, says son Karti

Karti Chidambaram, son of former finance minister and Congress leader P Chidambaram, said his father has been arrested just to divert attention from the issue of Article 370. Kashmir had been facing a lockdown since August 4, a day before the Centre passed a resolution to scrap Article 370 of the Indian Constitution that granted special status to Jammu and Kashmir.

Earlier, Karti had said, P Chidambaram’s arrest in the INX Media case was a “politically motivated witch-hunt” and aimed at diverting attention from serious issues.

“It is a politically motivated witch-hunt. This is an attempt at diverting attention from serious issues and theatrics and voyeurism to satisfy some people,” Karti told news agency PTI in Chennai.

The Congress MP said that his father appeared before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) everytime he was summoned. He exuded confidence that eventually they will be vindicated.

“ED has summoned him a number of times and he has appeared every time. We will go to the court. We will be vindicated eventually,” ANI quoted him as saying.

On Wednesday, high-voltage drama unfolded after Chidambaram, who reportedly went incommunicado soon after Delhi High Court’s rejected his plea seeking interim protection from the arrest by the CBI and the ED, appeared before the media at Congress headquarters. Addressing the media, the former finance minister said that if he has to choose between the liberty and the life, he will always choose liberty.

"I was aghast that I was accused of hiding from the law. On the contrary, I was engaged in pursuit of justice," Chidambaram said at a press conference. "Now I shall walk with a clear conscience and head held high. In the name of freedom, I can only hope and pray that investigative agencies will respect the law," he added.

Soon after his dramatic appearance, a team of CBI rushed to the Congress headquarters in Delhi to arrest him but by the time they reached, he left for his residence. However, teams of CBI and ED followed the Congress leader to his residence and finally arrested him.