Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram's son Karti on Wednesday lashed out at the CBI for its action against his father in the INX media case, saying it was a "totally politically motivated witch-hunt".
Minutes after Chidambaram, a former union minister, was arrested by the CBI in New Delhi, Karti said the case was apparently about events that happened in 2008.
"This is totally a politically motivated witch-hunt," the Congress MP, who is also an accused in the INX media case, told reporters outside his residence in Delhi.
"It (arrest of P Chidambaram by CBI) is being done just to divert attention from the issue of Article 370," Karti told media.
"This whole thing is politically trumped-up. There are no merits whatsoever. These are apparently about alleged events which took place in 2008 for which an FIR was filed in 2017. I have been raided four times. I have been summoned 20 times.
"I have appeared for at least 10-12 hours in each of the summons. I was also the guest of the CBI for 11 days. Everybody who is even remotely associated with me has been summoned and extensively questioned, and still, we don't have a charge-sheet. There is no case. I have absolutely no link with INX Media," Karti said.
On the arrest of P Chidambaram, Karti said, "This is like a staged reality show to have all these dramatic visuals on television. There is no reason for this kind of drama... It's not done in an honest investigation... They are still in an FIR stage. There is no charge-sheet for an event which apparently happened in 2008. Nearly eleven years after you still can't have a charge-sheet for an event, your FIR was filed in 2017."
Karti claimed that the officials who are investigating "clearly know that there is no case, but nobody has the courage to actually write in the file that there is no case, let's close."
"They will just keep the pot boiling and can have a never-ending investigation. In India, unfortunately, there is no time limit to close an investigation. You can keep the investigation open forever and that's a great tool for harassment. My father has appeared for every summon which is being served upon," he said.
When asked about the Delhi High Court's August 20 order, Karti said, "If you are going to rely on the judgment of August 20, 2019, I would only respectfully say that you must contrast it with the judgment of March 23, 2018 of Justice RS Garg of the Delhi High Court. Please read that judgment. It's on the same case and the same facts. It pertains to me."
He added, "We will go through the legal process. I have full faith in the judiciary. I am very glad that the entire Congress party is with us. I want to particularly thank Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra for coming out in our support. We will win this politically and legally together."
(With inputs from agencies)
