P Chidambaram claims liberty curtailed without following due procedure; Moves SC against CBI remand order

Former Union Minister P Chidambaram has filed a fresh Special Leave Petition before the Supreme Court challenging the order passed by the Special CBI Judge remanding Chidambaram to CBI Custody till August 26..Chidambaram’s petition states that he is constrained to move the Supreme Court directly invoking its jurisdiction under Article 136 of the Constitution of India rather than approach the Delhi High Court given the fact that it was the High Court’s Order of August 20 that paved the way for Chidambaram’s arrest and subsequent remand..The petition highlights that not only was the judgment denying anticipatory bail to P Chidambaram delivered seven months after it was reserved but Justice Sunil Gaur has also made certain observations with respect to the merits of the case itself. The petition before the Supreme Court states,.“The Petitioner is constrained to approach this Hon’ble Court directly and not approach the Hon’ble High Court as the detention/ arrest of the Petitioner and the subsequent remand of the Petitioner to custody of Respondent Agency is a direct sequetor of the judgment dated 20.8.2019 passed by the Hon’ble High Court in Bail Application 1316 of 2018, whereby the Ld. Single Judge of the Hon’ble High Court of Delhi has been pleased to reject the Petitioner’s Application for Anticipatory Bail and as made certain observations on the merits of the case itself.”.P Chidambaram has claimed that his liberty has been curtailed without following the due procedure. The orders passed by the Special CBI Judge, first issuing non-bailable warrants and second remanding Chidambaram to Police Custody, are in the teeth of the right guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution of India, the petition states..“the continuous incarceration of the petitioner in custody of the Respondent, which is violative of Article 21 of Constitution of India, cannot be allowed to be continued even for a moment and hence the impugned orders are required to be stayed and the liberty of the petitioner is required to be restored by this Hon’ble Court by way of an ad interim ex-parte order”, the petition states..It is also averred that the Special CBI Judge did not consider the fact that Chidambaram not only cooperated in the investigation when he was summoned but is also not at flight risk or at the risk of tampering with any evidence. The remand was sought by the CBI without any ground and the allegations made are without any material, the petition adds..This petition is scheduled to come up for hearing before the Supreme Court on Monday, August 26 along with another petition assailing the order of the High Court rejecting Chidambaram’s anticipatory bail plea in the case filed by the Enforcement Directorate in the INX Media case..Story till now.The legal battle in the INX media case reached various courts in the judicial hierarchy in very quick succession. It all started on August 20 when the Delhi High Court delivered its judgment rejecting anticipatory bail to Chidambaram following which his legal team immediately rushed to the Supreme Court to challenge this order. Due to time constraints, Chidambaram could not get an urgent hearing in the case on the same day spilling over the suspense of whether or not the CBI will arrest him on to the next day..On August 21, several attempts were made by Chidambaram’s legal team to secure an urgent listing of the case with his lawyers going back and forth from Justice NV Ramana to Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi. However, despite the efforts, Chidambaram failed to secure an urgent hearing in the case with the matter eventually being listed for August 23. Chidambaram remained away from the public eye up until the case got listed before the Supreme Court. He convened a press conference soon after the confirmation of listing..However, the CBI arrested Chidambaram shortly after his press briefing, while the petition before the Supreme Court remained pending. Chidambaram was produced before the Special CBI Judge at the Rouse Avenue Court Complex on Thursday, August 22 where he was remanded to Police Custody till Monday, August 26..When the petition before Supreme Court came up for hearing on August 23, Senior Counsel Kapil Sibal objected to Solicitor General Tushar Mehta‘s suggestion that the plea for anticipatory bail was infructuous in light of Chidambaram’s arrest. Sibal went on to argue the case and also assailed the remand order passed by the CBI judge..While Chidambaram remains in Police Custody in the case filed by the CBI till August 26, the Supreme Court granted him interim protection from arrest in the cases filed by the ED till the next date of hearing which is August 26. The drama will further unfold at both the Rouse Avenue Court as well as the Supreme Court where the case is listed for hearing on Monday on various aspects of arrest and custody.