Karti Chidambaram on Thursday termed the arrest of his father P Chidambaram as a "political vendetta" and vehemently denied any association with either Peter Mukerjea or his wife Indrani Mukerjea, the promoters of INX Media.
Karti arrived in New Delhi on Thursday morning from Chennai, hours after his father was arrested on Wednesday night after high drama at his residence in the INX Media case.
"This is not merely targeting of my father but the targeting of the Congress party. I will go to Jantar Mantar to protest," said Karti as he stepped out of the Delhi airport.
Karti said there was no legal necessity for Chidambaram to appear before the Central Bureau of Investigation and denied that his father had been in hiding.
He said despite several efforts by the CBI, the agency didn't have a case against them.
"First and foremost we are being targeted. There is no legal requirement for my father to be available to anybody...My father is a vehement, vocal and articulate critic of this government. Case has no legal basis, charges trumped-up," said Karti, who said that he knew the processes agencies use and never has the CBI given two hours notice to anyone.
"I have been summoned 20 times and raided four times. Nobody has ever been raided as many times but they still don't have a case....each time I (was summoned) was given a week's notice," he said.
When asked about his association with Peter and Indrani Mukerjea, Karti said he neither knew them nor has he met them.
"I have never met Peter Mukerjea. Have never met Indrani Mukerjea, only time I met her was during the CBI interrogation in Byculla jail. Never met anyone in Foreign Investment Promotion Board, don't know the process of FIPB", he said.
Karti Chidambaram also said that his father's arrest by the CBI on Wednesday night in connection with INX Media case is being done just to divert attention from the issue of Article 370.
"It (arrest of P Chidambaram by CBI) is being done just to divert attention from the issue of Article 370," Karti said, adding, "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 chargesheet. There is no case. I have absolutely no link with INX Media," Karti said.
Karti added about the arrest, "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 chargesheet for an event which apparently happened in 2008. Nearly 11 years later you still can't have a chargesheet 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.
WATCH: CBI whisks Chidambaram away from his house
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."
Chidambaram, who spent the night in a CBI guest house will be questioned in the alleged corruption in Rs 305 crore clearance given to INX media when he was the Union finance minister..
The firm once promoted by Peter and Indrani Mukerjea, both in jail for murdering the latter's daughter Sheena Bora, had allegedly made payments to a firm linked to the former finance minister's son Karti Chidambaram, the CBI has said in the FIR.
Chidambaram has strongly denied the allegations, saying the payments were for consultancy and his son was in no way associated with that company.
-- With inputs from ANI
