The Supreme Court today reserved order on former Finance Minister P. Chidambaram plea challenging Delhi High Court’s order rejecting his bail application in the INX media money laundering scam.
The bench comprising Justices R Banumathi, AS Bopanna, and Hrishikesh Roy, asked the Court Registry to accept three sets of sealed cover documents for safe custody.
Senior Counsel Abhishek Manu Singhvi reiterated before the Court that the triple test was in Chidambaram’s favour and “gravity of offence” should not be weighed at the stage of bail. The Code of Criminal Procedure speaks favourably for bail for offences whose sentence is below 7 years.
Senior Counsel Kapil Sibal, also appearing for Chidambaram pointed out that SG Tushar Mehta has wrongly relied on the Amarmani Tripathi case which was a murder case and thus that argument does not hold ground. Mr. Mehta had referred that case in context with character of a person as perceived by the society at large.
Sibal further argued that P. Chidambaram’s son Karti allegedly accepted money; this doesn’t directly point at petitioner’s involvement and hence, unless anything is proved, Chidambaram should be enlarged on bail.
He claimed that Chidambaram does not have any undisclosed account, undisclosed property or any undisclosed benami property which may give rise to suspicion of illegal activities.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, in his arguments, defended Chidambaram’s continued custody on ground that any white collar crime is an injustice to the society as it hampers the national economy. He also said that Mr. Chidambaram was not an “unknown bystander” but an important, elected person who wielded the faith of common man while money was being laundered.
— India Legal Bureau