The Court will decide on Chidambaram's anticipatory bail petition on September 5; ED cannot arrest him until then
The Enforcement Directorate told the Supreme Court on Thursday that if senior Congressman P Chidambaram has to be shown the evidence for the INX Media case, prior to his arrest, absconders in economic offences and terror funding cases may soon follow suit. This would seriously dent the prospects of their arrest.
The Court will decide on Chidambaram's anticipatory bail petition on September 5; ED cannot arrest him until then. He is accused of receiving a bribe from INX Media, which he laundered through through shell companies.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, who opposed the plea, sought permission to file the material against the former Finance Minister in a sealed cover. But Chidambaram's counsels opposed this, saying he should know whether it was the same material about which had been questioned on December 19, 2018, January 7 and 21, 2019; and if not, then how could it be said that he was not cooperating with the probe.
The bench comprising Justices R Banumathi and AS Bopanna, reserved orders after the marathon four-day hearing and directed ED to supply a transcript of the questioning held on the past three occasions in a sealed cover in three days. The bench refused to pass any order on the agency's request to be allowed to share case material in a sealed cover for satisfying the court's conscience.
Mehta told the Court that the ED has a broader concern. "Any order could impact pending cases against Nirav Modi, Mehul Choksi, Vijay Mallya, terror fund accused Zakir Naik, all of who are absconding," he said. "If a mini-trial is to be held, where the Court will first seek evidence before ordering their arrest, our entire evidence, sources and material will be exposed, leading to a devastating effect on the probe."
He added that evidence in economic crimes is mostly digital and if it is shared with the accused, it would get erased within seconds and put witnesses under serious threat.
The agency told the court that at this stage, an accused is not arrested and the charge sheet is yet to be prepared. The Court has to form a prima facie view that an arrest is made after looking into the gravity of charges, conduct and influence of the accused.
Mehta said that the gravity of a money laundering offence should not be gauged by the punishment it carries, but by its impact on society, nation and the economy. Economic offenders and terror crime financiers need to be dealt with differently as the loss caused to the economy and society is enormous.
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 "P Chidambaram")
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