‘Please sit’, judge asks Chidambaram at CBI custody hearing. He declines
A chair was brought to the court near the accused box where the veteran Congress leader was standing but he refused to sit. All through the proceedings, he stood in the accused box with a smile on his face.
Dramatic scenes were witnessed in a packed courtroom when former Union minister and senior Congress leader P Chidambaram was produced by Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) officials in a corruption case on Thursday.
Chidambaram got into a conversation with the senior lawyers representing him right after he was brought into the courtroom, discussing the arguments to be put forth.
All through the hearing Chidambaram kept standing despite being asked by the judge, solicitor general Tushar Mehta and the CBI investigating officer to sit and make himself comfortable.
A chair was brought near the accused box where Chidambaram stood but he refused to sit. Throughout the hour and a half that the proceedings lasted, Chidambaram stood with a smile on his face.
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Long before the arguments on Chidambaram’s remand began, the courtroom was packed with media personnel and lawyers waiting to witness the case.
The senior Congress leader received support from his wife Nalini Chidambaram, who was seated in the last row.
Former Uttarakhand chief minister Harish Rawat, Congress leader Mukul Wasnik and party spokesperson Pranav Jha were also present in the courtroom to extend their support.
On several instances, senior lawyers Kapil Sibal and Abhishek Singhvi made eye contact with Chidambaram after making a submission to the court to which he could be seen nodding in approval.
Chidambaram’s wife, Nalini, refused to comment on the arrest while his son Karti said it was a false case.
He said he had also gone through the same circumstances, so he knew the pattern of harassment his father was going through.
