The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) late Tuesday night issued a notice to former union finance minister P Chidambaram asking him to appear before the investigating officer, DSP Parthasarathy, "within two hours" after the agency failed to meet him at his residence.
The development came within hours of the Delhi Court denying Chidambaram an anticipatory bail in the INX Media case.
Chidambaram's lawyer, Arshdeep Singh Khurana, has written to CBI after the agency put up a notice outside Chidambaram's residence stating "the notice fails to mention the provision of law under which my client has been issued a notice to appear within 2 hours."
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Khurana added that his client had been permitted by SC to mention the urgent Special Leave Petition against the order before Court at 10:30 am today. "I, therefore, request you not to take any coercive action against my client till then&await the hearing at 10:30 am."
At around 6.30 PM on Tuesday, a team of CBI officers reached his posh Jor Bagh residence to locate him, officials said.
The CBI team left the premises after confirming that Chidambaram was not present at the address, they said.
The team, which had some superintendent of police-rank officials, did not make clear if they had gone to his residence to arrest him for alleged irregularities in foreign investment clearance to INX Media during his tenure as finance minister.
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The officials returned to the CBI headquarters and got into a huddle with senior officers of the agency to decide the future course of action, the officials said.
Team of officials returned to his residence and pasted a notice asking Chidambaram to appear before R Parthasarthy, CBI Deputy SP, who is probing the case to record his statement under Section 161 of the CrPC.
Sources said the notice has also been sent to his email ID. However, it could not be immediately ascertained when the notice was issued to Chidambaram, a senior Congress leader.
Chidambaram is likely to seek protection from arrest from the Supreme Court Wednesday morning.
The Delhi High Court on Tuesday refused to grant any protection to Chidambaram from arrest by the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate.
He failed to get an audience from Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi on Tuesday for urgent hearing of his appeal in the Supreme Court against the Delhi High Court order dismissing his anticipatory bail plea.
A team of lawyers led by senior advocate and Chidambaram's party colleague Kapil Sibal was told by the registrar (judicial) to mention the petition on Wednesday morning in the apex court.
The CBI had registered an FIR on May 15, 2017, alleging irregularities in the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) clearance granted to the media group for receiving overseas funds of Rs 305 crore in 2007 during Chidambaram's tenure as finance minister.
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Thereafter, the ED lodged a money laundering case in this regard in 2018.
(With inputs from PTI)
