New Delhi, Oct 11:
The Enforcement Directorate moved a Delhi court Friday seeking custodial interrogation of senior Congress leader and former finance minister P Chidambaram in the INX Media money laundering case, saying his arrest was “absolutely necessary”. Chidambaram is in Tihar jail in connection with the INX Media corruption case lodged by the CBI and will be produced before Special Judge Ajay Kumar Kuhar on October 14 following the production warrant issued against him on the fresh plea of ED on Friday. The court passed the order after the ED said that it has “taken a conscious decision to take the custody of the accused in the present case for investigation under the PMLA… The arrest and interrogation of the accused is absolutely necessary, the probe agency wants an effective interrogation at a stage where the agency can get maximum information from the accused”. The development assumes significance as Chidambaram has been denied anticipatory bail by the Delhi High Court as also the Supreme Court in the money laundering case. Taking note of ED’s plea, argued by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta and special public prosecutor Amit Mahajan, the special court issued the warrant directing Tihar jail authorities to produce the former finance minister before it at 3 pm on October 14, when the probe agency can formally arrest and quiz him in custody.
INX-Media case….
The agency told the court that Chidambaram’s custody was required for seeking information about shell companies abroad as well as 17 bank accounts. The court had earlier dismissed his plea seeking to surrender in the money laundering case, after the ED said it would arrest him when it needs his custody. Mehta had argued that certain aspects were required to be probed before his custodial interrogation. Mehta on Friday told the court that the probe was at a crucial stage when the accused had moved the application for surrender and the ED wanted to bring substantial material and examine some crucial witnesses in the case before taking custody of Chidambaram.
“Therefore, the agency had not shown willingness to arrest Chidambaram at that time…Since September 6 till date, the ED has recorded the statement of twelve persons and now it considers it appropriate to seek the custody of Chidambaram in the present case for the probe under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act,” Mehta told the court.
“The custodial interrogation was considered necessary by the Delhi High Court as well as the Supreme Court and therefore, an application for anticipatory bail of the accused was rejected by the HC and the SLP filed before SC challenging the order of the high court was also dismissed by the SC”.
The custodial interrogation would help the agency to unravel the laundering of proceeds of the crime which have crossed the border of the country and have been parked in foreign countries, he said.
After taking note of ED’s submissions, the court said, “In the above said background and the facts and circumstances of the case mentioned in the application, this court is considering the issuance of production warrants against Chidambaram.”
The judge said: “Having considered all the facts and circumstances of the case, I allow the application. Let production warrants be issued against accused for October, 14, 2019 at 3 pm,” the judge said.
In its application moved by ED’s special public prosecutor N K Matta, the agency told the court that “Chidambaram was using other co-conspirators to launder the proceeds of crime for acquiring overseas assets. It has also been ascertained that there were at least 17 bank accounts opened in overseas jurisdiction by Chidambaram and co-conspirators.”
During the course of further investigation, summons were recently issued to 11 persons and statements of some of these persons revealed that the overseas assets were acquired in the name of Chidambaram, he said.
A complex web of companies was created and multiple bank accounts were opened in different jurisdictions for “laundering the proceeds of crime under a well-crafted scheme by Chidambaram intelligently”, the agency told the court.
It added that it needed to confront Chidambaram with material and information gathered by the agency so as to gather the cogent evidence which can complete the probe.
“The ED has already found some and is in process of finding further trail of money and its investment unauthorizedly and clandestinely in other countries,” Agency’s advocate Nitesh Rana told the court.
The Supreme Court had dismissed his plea against the August 20 order of the Delhi High Court denying him pre-arrest bail in the case lodged by the ED.
The High Court had on August 20 dismissed anticipatory bail plea of Chidambaram in the cases lodged by the ED as well as the CBI.
The CBI then arrested him on August 21 from his Jor Bagh residence.
The CBI had registered an FIR on May 15, 2017, alleging irregularities in the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) clearance granted to the INX Media group for receiving overseas funds of Rs 305 crore in 2007 during Chidambaram’s tenure as the finance minister.
Thereafter, the ED lodged a money laundering case in this regard in 2017.
