The special CBI court on Friday extended the CBI custody of former Union Minister P Chidambaram to September 2 in the INX Media corruption case.
At today’s hearing, Additional Solicitor General K.M. Natrajan, appearing for the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), sought five more days custody of Chidambaram on the grounds that the premier investigating agency had not completed investigation and therefore it needed more time.
“The investigation is partially concluded and there are questions left to be answered,” Natrajan said.
To which the judge questioned: “You already had sought extension on the previous hearing. Now you are further asking for extension. Why do you want further custody?”
Natrajan replied: “There are voluminous documents need to go through to understand the whole context.”
Special CBI Judge Ajay Kumar Kuhar again queried: “The ground you wrote are very vague. You are very well aware about the voluminous document and yet you asked part custody.”
Natrajan answered: “He has to answer several questions yet and considering the document we need more time.”
Senior Advocate Dhayan Krishnan countered the arguments of Natrajan and objected the extension of the custody.
“We have made a statement in the Supreme Court saying that till my SLP has not been heard, we want to be in custody till September 2. It was in that context we have made the statement. We have serious doubt over the nature of the investigation. Even a single day custody is illegal. 55 hours of questioning with me yet nothing has been shown to me as credible evidence,” Krishnan countered.
—India Legal Bureau