Won’t interfere with HC order on Karti Chidambaram’s bail, says top court
When it comes to the question of liberty, the courts do not go into technicality, a bench of Justices A K Sikri and Ashok Bhushan said.
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday declined to interfere with a Delhi High Court order granting bail to Karti Chidambaram, son of former union minister P Chidambaram, for alleged financial irregularities in the INX Media case.
When it comes to the question of liberty, the courts do not go into technicality, a bench of Justices A K Sikri and Ashok Bhushan said.
The bench said it is not interfering with the bail granted to Karti Chidambaram, but was leaving the question of law open -- on whether he can approach the high court when his application for bail was already pending before the trial court.
Additional Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), said this question of law has to be kept open as invoking powers of concurrent jurisdiction of the high court may be a case of "forum shopping".
Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for Karti Chidambaram, said there is already a judgement in which concurrent jurisdiction of high court can be invoked. On June 25, the CBI moved the apex court challenging the high court order granting bail to the businessman.
The CBI claimed in its appeal that it was "impermissible in law" for the high court to entertain Karti Chidambaram's bail plea when an application seeking a similar relief was pending before the trial court.
On March 23, a single judge bench of the high court granted bail to Karti, who was arrested on February 28 by the CBI, saying the relief should not be refused unless the crime was of the "highest magnitude" entailing "severe punishment".
Karti Chidambaram was arrested from Chennai in connection with an FIR lodged on May 15 last year, which had alleged irregularities in the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) clearance given to INX Media for receiving funds of about Rs 305 crore from abroad in 2007 when his father P Chidambaram was the finance minister.
Both P Chidambaram and his son have denied the allegations made by the CBI, as well as the Enforcement Directorate.