Chidambaram to remain in CBI custody till Sep 5

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The Supreme Court on Tuesday directed senior Congress leader P Chidambaram to remain in CBI custody till September 5.

The Supreme Court said that Chidambaram will remain in CBI custody till September 5 despite the investigating agency informing the court that it does not want to question him further.

The CBI had told the apex court that it does not want any further custody of the Congress leader and he should be sent to Tihar jail under judicial custody.

Senior Advocates Kapil Sibal and Abhishek Manu Singhvi, appearing for Chidambaram, assured the court that they will not press for his interim bail in the trial court till Thursday.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta told the top court that the agency does not want further custodial interrogation of Chidambaram and the judiciary must allow the law to take it’s own course.

The submission made by Mehta indicated that Chidambaram should be sent to Tihar Jail under judicial custody. The former minister on Monday had insisted that the court not send him in judicial custody.

Mehta requested the top court not to regulate proceedings pending before the trial court. However, the top court ordered to maintain status quo in the INX media case.

The top court on Tuesday said that it is not inclined to hear the matter at length.

However it added: “We are conscious that we should not usurp the jurisdiction of the concerned trial court”.

The top court listed the matter for further hearing on Thursday and ordered that the interim order should continue till the next date of hearing.

On the next date, the top court will hear Chidambaram’s plea challenging his CBI custody and non-bailable warrant issued against him.

When the hearing began on Tuesday, Mehta told the top court that Chidambaram filed his interim bail in the trial court after getting interim relief from the Supreme Court that he will not be sent to Tihar Jail.

Mehta told the bench that the former minister was arrested on August 21 but he did not move his bail till the Supreme Court granted him interim relief on Monday.

He also told the court that the agency needs time to file a response on his bail plea.

Complaining that defence counsel were putting pressure on the trial court to decide bail on Monday, he said that the bail was moved many days after his arrest and they want a response soon.

Meanwhile, Mehta also told the court that he had got wrong information that Chidambaram’s maximum custody deadline ends on Monday. He admitted his mistake for providing wrong information to the court on Monday.

The wrong information was written in the top court order on Monday.

Defence counsel said that the order should be modified with correct information.