Karti Chidambaram, son of former Finance Minister P. Chidambaram, on Wednesday expressed his willingness to sacrifice his trip abroad to admit his daugther in Cambridge in order for the Supreme Court to decide, once and for all, the legality of the lookout circular (LOC) issued against him by the government.
Mr. Karti had previously urged the apex court to allow him to travel abroad for 10 days between October 19 and 30.
Taking the cue, a Bench led by Chief Justie of India Dipak Misra posted the case on November 1 for a detailed hearing on the legal question whether the apex court can see documents, produced by the CBI in sealed covers, allegedly containing incriminating information against Mr. Karti.
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The Bench said it would lay down the law on whether the apex court can peruse documents gathered in the course of a probe by the investigating agency while deciding an appeal by a person against the LOC issued on him.
Kapil Sibal, for Mr. Karti, raised strong objections to the court viewing such documents while Additional Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, for the CBI, unequivocally submitted that the court can decide on the LOC after perusing the documents.
Chief Justice Misra said the issue relates to the personal liberty of the individual involved, and a judgment has to be given laying down the law.
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A Bench of Chief Justice Misra, Justices A.M. Khanwilkar and D.Y. Chandrachud is hearing a plea by Karti to quash the LOC, preventing him from travelling abroad. CBI is investigating an alleged Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) approval given to INX Media in 2007 when Mr. Chidambaram was Finance Minister.
The CBI has alleged that the documents in the sealed covers contain incriminating evidence to show that Karti held “several” offshore bank accounts and properties. The documents were collected in the course of the investigation. Mr. Mehta submitted the documents were part of the case diary.
“Just go through these documents. I am making the statement that the sealed envelopes contain contemporaneous documents. This will be part of my chargesheet... If you do not find anything, you can say this is trash and throw it away. CBI is willing to run the risk,” Mr. Mehta had submitted.
Mr. Sibal however had maintained that such documents, claiming to be about properties and bank accounts abroad, have no connection whatsoever with the FIR registered against an FIPB approval.
Mr. Karti had objected to the CBI brandishing sealed covers in a plea limited to the question of legality of the LOC. “If the CBI wants the court to look at these documents, it should furnish copies to my client,” Mr. Sibal submitted.