The Supreme Court today stayed Madras High Court order which had granted interim relief to Karti Chidambaram against Lookout circulars (LOC) issued by the CBI..Chief Justice JS Khehar and Justice DY Chandrachud was hearing a plea filed by the Centre challenging the impugned order of the High Court..Gopal Subramaniam appeared for Karti Chidambaram while ASG Tushar Mehta represented the Central government..The CBI had alleged that the petitioner was involved in a corruption case pertaining to grant of Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) approval to INX Media and an FIR was lodged on June 15, 2017. LOCs were issued on June 16 and 18 and the same were challenged by the petitioners by invoking the writ jurisdiction of the Madras High Court..The High Court had stayed the LOCs on Friday last week prompting the Central government and CBI to move the Supreme Court in appeal. The matter was mentioned at 10.30 am today by ASG Tushar Mehta and was taken up for hearing at the end of the Board..Mehta submitted before the Bench that five of the accused were asked to appear before the Investigating Officer but none of them did so prompting issuance of LOC..He further argued that the LOC is only to ensure that Chidambaram does not leave the country..“It is not an attempt to malign him. LOC does not mean, find him, nab him and put him jail. It was only to prevent him from leaving the country and ensure that he appears before the Investigating Officer”, said Mehta..Gopal Subramanium, appearing for Chidambaram, narrated the factual matrix preceding the issuance of LOC..He said that another accused Ravi Viswanathan had first come to know of the LOC when he was stopped at the airport while travelling abroad..“When I came to know about it, I knew I would also be stopped. That is why I filed the writ petition in High Court..Why should I abscond? My wife and daughter are here”, said Subramanium..Answering the issue of territorial jurisdiction of Madras High Court, Subramanium said that one of the places of conspiracy as stated in the FIR was Chennai..The Court, however, did not take a favourable view of the fact that Chidambaram had not apepared before the Investigating Officer..“You must first go to the Investigating Officer and prove your bonafides. When will you go”, demanded Justice Khehar..The bench also remarked that it had allowed people of high stature to go abroad who never came back..The Court proceeded to stay the order of the Madras High Court and posted the case for hearing on Friday.
The Supreme Court today stayed Madras High Court order which had granted interim relief to Karti Chidambaram against Lookout circulars (LOC) issued by the CBI..Chief Justice JS Khehar and Justice DY Chandrachud was hearing a plea filed by the Centre challenging the impugned order of the High Court..Gopal Subramaniam appeared for Karti Chidambaram while ASG Tushar Mehta represented the Central government..The CBI had alleged that the petitioner was involved in a corruption case pertaining to grant of Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) approval to INX Media and an FIR was lodged on June 15, 2017. LOCs were issued on June 16 and 18 and the same were challenged by the petitioners by invoking the writ jurisdiction of the Madras High Court..The High Court had stayed the LOCs on Friday last week prompting the Central government and CBI to move the Supreme Court in appeal. The matter was mentioned at 10.30 am today by ASG Tushar Mehta and was taken up for hearing at the end of the Board..Mehta submitted before the Bench that five of the accused were asked to appear before the Investigating Officer but none of them did so prompting issuance of LOC..He further argued that the LOC is only to ensure that Chidambaram does not leave the country..“It is not an attempt to malign him. LOC does not mean, find him, nab him and put him jail. It was only to prevent him from leaving the country and ensure that he appears before the Investigating Officer”, said Mehta..Gopal Subramanium, appearing for Chidambaram, narrated the factual matrix preceding the issuance of LOC..He said that another accused Ravi Viswanathan had first come to know of the LOC when he was stopped at the airport while travelling abroad..“When I came to know about it, I knew I would also be stopped. That is why I filed the writ petition in High Court..Why should I abscond? My wife and daughter are here”, said Subramanium..Answering the issue of territorial jurisdiction of Madras High Court, Subramanium said that one of the places of conspiracy as stated in the FIR was Chennai..The Court, however, did not take a favourable view of the fact that Chidambaram had not apepared before the Investigating Officer..“You must first go to the Investigating Officer and prove your bonafides. When will you go”, demanded Justice Khehar..The bench also remarked that it had allowed people of high stature to go abroad who never came back..The Court proceeded to stay the order of the Madras High Court and posted the case for hearing on Friday.
