ED issues lookout notice for P Chidambaram as SC rejects urgent bail
21 Aug 2019
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has issued a lookout notice for former finance minister P Chidambaram to airports and immigration desks after the Supreme Court refused to grant any interim relief to the Congressman in the INX Media case.
In a major setback to Chidambaram, a Supreme Court bench headed by Justice NV Ramana also refused to grant interim relief and instead referred the petition seeking urgent listing of the Congress leader's plea against Tuesday's order of the Delhi High Court rejecting anticipatory bail to Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi.
Chidambaram's lawyers had approached the SC seeking an urgent hearing in the matter. The team challenged the rejection of his anticipatory bail plea by the Delhi HC.
Shortly after the Supreme Court registry refused to clear it for a mentioning before the Supreme Court citing certain defects, Chidambaram’s lawyers amended the special leave petition (SLP) and SC registry official informed the court that defects have been removed and the plea will be listed for hearing.
"The Petitioner has every apprehension of his arrest, therefore, is approaching this Hon'ble Court for grant of pre-arrest bail. That if the present SLP is not taken up on an urgent basis then the sole purpose of filing the present SLP will become infructuous. Therefore, it is desirable in the interest of justice that during the pendency of the proceedings before this Hon'ble Court, the interim relief as prayed for herein be granted or else the petitioner shall suffer irreparable loss," Chidambaram's plea said.
The Congress party, meanwhile hit out at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) calling the ongoing investigations against Chidambaram "vendetta politics".
Yesterday, the CBI asked Chidambaram to appear before the investigating officers within two hours of issuing a notice to him. "Whereas it appears that you are acquainted with the facts and circumstances of the case noted below, which I am now investigating under Chapter XII of the Code of Criminal Procedure, you are hereby directed to attend before me within two hours of the receipt of this notice for the purpose of investigation of case," a notice by investigating officer R Parthasarathy, deputy superintendent of police, CBI read.