PC's CBI custody extended till Sept 2

New Delhi: The former Finance Minister, P Chidambaram's CBI custody was yet again extended till September 2 by a Delhi court here, till when the probe agency can question him in connection with the INX Media case.

The Assistant Solicitor-General, KN Natraj on Friday appeared for the CBI and sought five days of CBI remand on grounds of voluminous material and Chidambaram's slow response time.

The ex-FM was represented by Sr. Advocate Dayan Krishnan, with whom Chidambaram had disagreed during the hearing, about what their position was. Earlier on Thursday, Chidambaram's lawyers, had in an unprecedented plea to the Supreme Court of India, offered to stay in CBI custody till September 2, when his plea challenging the trial court's decision to send him to CBI remand, will be heard by the Apex Court.

While Krishnan reiterated this point before Special judge Ajay Kumar Kuhar on Friday, it was misunderstood as Chidambaram not wanting to oppose the CBI's plea seeking an additional five-day-remand.

Chidambaram asked the court to let him be heard and said, "We are opposing the CBI's application for five-day extension but we did make a joint suggestion if the court thinks it fit, let the custody continue till the SLP is heard by the Supreme Cort on Monday."

Krishnan had argued that Chidambaram had been put through nearly 55 hours of questioning and been asked more than 400 questions, while Chidambaram pled that he was consistently being shown three files over and over again.

However, ASG Natraj argued for the custody extension by citing the sheer volume of material that the accused needed to be confronted with as being monumental. He added that Chidambaram needed to go through the voluminous documents and then answer specific questions, which required more time.

The court ultimately ordered the senior Congress leader to be remanded to CBI custody till September 2, noting that "despite best efforts" of the investigators, more time is needed for further investigation, as it could not be completed. At an earlier custody remand proceedings, Solicitor-General Tushar Mehta had argued for the CBI, saying that Chidambaram needed to be confronted with some fresh material unearthed by sister agencies, including the Enforcement Directorate.

Sources in the know had earlier said that the CBI was questioning Chidambaram with regards to these materials, which purportedly included evidence of a transaction showing an alleged Rs 33.05 lakh being paid by INX Media to a charity where Chidambaram is listed as a trustee, by using an intermediary company.

The CBI has so far confronted him with the ex-Niti Aayog CEO, Sindhushree Khullar, who was then Additional Secretary in the Department of Economic Affairs (DEA) and just recently with Prabodh Saxena, then Director of the DEA. The agency had earlier in court, expressed that more co-accused needed to be confronted with Chidambaram to complete the investigation.