Delhi HC to hear on Aug 9 CBI's plea in INX Media corruption case involving Chidambaram, others

The Delhi High Court is scheduled to hear on Monday the CBIs plea in the INX Media corruption case involving Congress leader P Chidambaram and his son KartiThe CBI has challenged a trial courts order directing the agency to allow inspection of documents kept in the malkhana room where case properties are kept by the accused and their counselThe plea is listed for hearing before Justice Mukta GuptaThe high court had on May 18 stayed trial proceedings in the case involving Chidambaram and his son KartiIt had also issued notice and sought responses of Chidambaram and others on the CBIs pleaThe CBI has sought to set aside the special judges March 5 2021 order to the extent that it directed the CBI to allow inspection of documents kept in malkhana by the respondentsaccused their counselBesides the CBI has also sought setting aside the observations in the order which says that the agency is required to file or produce before the court all the documents collected by it during investigationThe trial court had also said that the accused are also entitled to copies of such documents or inspections thereof irrespective of the fact whether they are being relied upon by the CBI or notThe CBI had registered its case on May 15 2017 alleging irregularities in a Foreign Investment Promotion Board clearance granted to INX Media group for receiving overseas funds of Rs 305 crore in 2007 during Chidambarams tenure as finance ministerThereafter the ED had lodged the money laundering caseThe CBI had said this case involved high level of corruption with wide ramifications on society and while the accused have a right to a fair trial the collective interest of the society cannot be impingedldquoA fair trial is not what the accused wants in the name of a fair trial but must soothe the ultimate justice Although right of fair trial of the respondentsaccused was not infringed since all documents relied upon by petitionerCBI were provided to the respondentsaccusedrdquo it has saidIt has added that it is trite that the right to fair trial is not singularly absolute as is perceived from the perspective of the accused and it also takes within its ambit and sweep the rights of the society at largeThe agency has contended that the very essence of trial is to unearth the truth for which the court cannot assist the accused in search of a plausible defenceldquoThis is against all principles of fair trial and due process of law It is the basic principle of criminal law that though it is the duty of the prosecution to prove its case however the accused is supposed to either give the true version before the court or remain silentrdquoAn accused cannot build a false and imaginary defence after examining the documents A false defence is a circumstance which incriminates the accusedrdquo the CBI has said in its petitionIt has alleged that the trial courts order reflected intrusion into the investigative process of the CBI which is impermissible in law and the special judge lost sight of the fact that further investigation in the present matter is underway and if the accused persons are allowed to inspect documents available at the malkhana the same would subvert the probe and there is every likelihood that they may tamper with evidence availableldquoSecrecy is a prerequisite of investigation into any offence Confidentiality and insulation of the investigating agency and its investigation from leaks and disclosures at every stage has to be ensuredrdquo it has saidIt has added that this would impinge the power of the CBI to enquire and investigate into the allegations of huge economic fraud and corruption at the highest level having national and international ramificationsldquoOne cannot lose sight that the respondentsaccused are highly influential people having huge resources which can be gathered from the very fact that during the course of arguments the respondentsaccused referred to and also filed along with their applications extractspages of relevant rules of the CBI Crime Manual 2020 although it is a restricted document and is meant for internal circulation within the CBIrdquo it has saidSeeking to set aside the trial courts order the agency has said the legitimate aim would suffer irreparably if protection is not given to the documents and record which was permitted to be inspected by the accusedIt has said out of 14 accused only Karti had made the prayer to inspect malkhana documents however the trial court erroneously allowed all the accused to inspect it and exceeded the judicial powers by giving relief which was not prayed forldquoFurther not all respondentsaccused preferred applications under Section 207 CrPC however documents were directed to be supplied to all of them and also inspection was also permitted to allrdquo it has saidThe Chidambarams are already out on bail in the caseThe court had earlier granted interim bail to other accused on a personal bond of Rs 2 lakh and one surety of the like amountChidambaram was taken into custody on August 21 2019 when he was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation CBI in the INX Media corruption caseOn October 16 2019 the ED arrested him in the separate moneylaundering caseSix days later on October 22 2019 the apex court had granted him bail in the case lodged by the CBIOn December 4 2019 after 105 days of custody Chidambaram was granted bail by the Supreme Court in the money laundering case lodged by the EDThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever