CBI issues Look Out Circular against former finance minister
New Delhi: Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram, who is facing threat of arrest, failed on Wednesday to get protection from the Supreme Court which decided to hear on Friday his petition seeking stay on the Delhi High Court order that had dismissed his anticipatory bail plea.
Registrar (Judicial) informed Chidambaram’s lawyer that Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi has listed the matter for hearing on Friday. Soon after getting the message from Registrar (Judicial), a team of lawyers led by senior advocate Kapil Sibal had short deliberation in the consultation room after which they left the apex court.
Chidambaram, who was home minister and finance minister in the UPA government from 2004-2014, had sought a stay on the Delhi High Court’s Tuesday judgement dismissing his anticipatory bail plea and paving the way for his arrest lodged by CBI and ED in cases related to the INX Media scam. His petition was first mentioned by Sibal in the morning before a bench, comprising Justices N V Ramana, M Shantanagoudar and Ajay Rastogi, which sent it for being placed before the CJI for his consideration to accord it urgent hearing.
When the team of lawyers representing Chidambaram did not receive any information on urgent listing, Sibal once again mentioned it before the same bench after it assembled post lunch.
Sibal, flanked by other senior advocates Salman Khurshid, Vivek Tankha and Indira Jaising, told the bench that the investigating agencies have issued a look out notice against Chidambaram as if he is going to “run away”.
The top court said the defects in the petition had been removed “just now” and it “cannot be listed for hearing today itself”. “Without listing of the petition, we cannot hear the matter,” said the bench. “Sorry Mr Sibal. We cannot hear the matter,” the bench said when he repeatedly asked for hearing the matter on Wednesday itself. (PTI)