SC indicates it may allow Karti Chidambaram to go abroad

New Delhi, Nov 9 (IANS) The Supreme Court on Thursday indicated that it may allow Karti Chidambaram, son of former Finance Minister P. Chidambaram, to go abroad for four or five days as it studied documents submitted by the CBI to oppose his application.

Karti Chidambaram is seeking the apex court's nod to travel to Cambridge in connection with the admission of his daughter.

Asking Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Tushar Mehta to take instructions on permitting Karti Chidambaram to go abroad, a bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra, Justice A.M. Khanwilkar and Justice D.Y. Chandrachud also asked the agency if it intended to further question Karti Chidambaram on the strength of papers it had shown to the court.

The court asked ASG Mehta to seek instructions from the investigating agency as it fixed the next date of hearing on November 16.

The court order came after senior counsel Kapil Sibal, appearing for Karti Chidambaram, told the bench that his client was not afraid of anything and offered to be confronted with any document signed by him and was ready to face any question from the agency.

The hearing on Thursday saw both P. Chidambaram and Nalini Chidambaram being present in court and Chidambaram telling Sibal on the points he should advance.

Though Nalini Chidambaram is present in the court on every hearing, for the first time on Thursday, both the mother and father of Karti Chidambaram were present in the court room during the hearing.

The Supreme Court is hearing a CBI plea that challenges the Madras High Court's stay order on the lookout notice against Karti Chidambaram.

The apex court has since stayed the High Court order.

The agency had issued the lookout circular against Karti Chidambaram after investigations into alleged irregularities in Foreign Investment Promotion Board clearance to INX Media when P. Chidambaram was the Finance Minister in the UPA government.