NEW DELHI: Former Union Minister P Chidambaram’s hope to get any relief in the INX media case from the Supreme Court turned futile as it refused to hear his anticipatory bail plea and slated the hearing for Friday.
Chidambaram’s legal team led by senior advocates Kapil Sibal, Abhishek Manu Singhvi, Ashwani Kumar and Vivek Tankha struggled for an urgent hearing in the apex court but failed to get it listed for urgent hearing.
Meanwhile, the ED followed by the CBI issued lookout notice against Chidambaram, and alerts were issued to airports and seaports.
Chidambaram’s lawyer also wrote a letter to the CBI not to take any coercive action till the time apex court hears his case.
Chidambaram, who was ‘missing’ ever since the High Court denied him protection from arrest on Tuesday, faced a tough time as his lawyers hoped from one court to another seeking immediate listing of the case.
Meanwhile, the CBI and the ED also filed a caveat in the top court so that the court hear them before passing any order or relief in the case.
The day began with lawyers urging the bench headed by Justice N V Ramana to hear the case, but the judges said that they can’t pass immediate orders and is sending the file to CJI Ranjan Gogoi.
Appearing for CBI, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta opposed Chidambaram’s plea. Sibal then rushed to CJI’s court but he chooses not to mention the case as the constitution bench was hearing the Ayodhya dispute.
At 2 pm again, Sibal approached Justice Ramana to hear the case and grant an interim stay to Chidambaram but was told that since their petition is defective, it can’t be listed.
The defect was later explained by Sibal to the SC Registrar and then the petition was again sent to CJI to mark it to an appropriate bench.
But at 4 pm too, Sibal and other lawyers did not mention the case for urgent hearing and then a meeting was convened between CJI and Registrar. Later, lawyers were informed that the hearing is likely on Friday.