SC grants relief to Nalini and Karti in 2 separate cases
New Delhi: Nalini Chidambaram, a senior advocate and wife of former Union minister P Chidambaram, and her son Karti Chidambaram on Friday got relief from the Supreme Court in Saradha chitfund and INX media cases respectively.
The top court restrained Enforcement Directorate (ED) from taking any coercive action against Nalini Chidambaram in the Saradha chitfund case.
It also refused to interfere with an order granting bail to Karti Chidambaram in the INX media case.
A bench of justices A K Sikri and Ashok Bhushan issued a notice to the ED on a plea by Nalini Chidambaram challenging dismissal of her plea by the Madras High Court against the summons issued in a case related to Saradha chit fund scam.
It restrained the ED from taking any coercive action against Nalini Chidambaram in the case.
Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for her, said that the issue was covered by apex court judgement.
The bench said it was issuing a notice to the ED and seeking its reply in four weeks.
In another case of Karti Chidambaram, the bench refused to interfere with the high court order granting bail to him, saying that in the question of liberty, the court did not usually go into technicalities.
"By the impugned order the high court has granted bail to the respondent (Karti) herein. Insofar as grant of bail by the high court is concerned, we do not find any reason to interfere with the said order," the bench said and dismissed the plea of the CBI challenging the bail order.
It, however, said, that the observations made by the high court "in the impugned order keeping in mind as to whether the respondent was entitled to bail or not and such observations shall not influence any other proceedings and all other proceedings shall be dealt with on its own merits".
It left the question open, as to whether the accused could approach the high court for bail, invoking its concurrent jurisdiction, even when his bail application was pending before the trial court.
The bench said, "It is not necessary to enter in this controversy in the present petition. Pending applications, if any, shall also stand disposed of".
Additional Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the CBI, said this question of law had to be kept open as invoking powers of concurrent jurisdiction of the high court might be a case of "forum shopping".
Sibal, appearing for Karti Chidamabaram, said there was already a judgement in which concurrent jurisdiction of high court could be invoked.
On June 25, the CBI had moved the apex court challenging the high court order granting bail to Karti Chidambaram.
The probe agency claimed in its appeal that it was "impermissible in law" for the high court to entertain Karti Chidambaram's bail plea when an application seeking a similar relief was pending before the trial court.
