Selective opposition prosecution: Cong on Chidambaram

New Delhi, September 5, 2019: The Congress on Thursday accused the government of ‘selective opposition persecution’ after former finance minister P Chidambaram was put behind bars.

Congress spokesperson and Chidambaram’s counsel Abhishek Singhvi expressed the hope that there are better chances of getting bail after some ‘hiatus’ as continued custody for many days has to be justified.

“The bail has a very good chance of success as the probe agencies have to justify each day of remand. This is a clearly a huge amount of selective opposition prosecution,” he told reporters.

He said that bail applications will be made in Chidambaram’s case and they will be argued but the crux of the issue is whether there is a need for custodial interrogation after all this time.

The Congress put out a tweet on its handle saying, ‘Those with the power of truth have the strength to fight any injustice’ and tagged a news report which quoted Chidambaram as saying that he was only worried about the economy.

On Supreme Court dismissing Chidambaram’s bail plea, Singhvi said, “It is a setback.”

He added that what has happened in the trial court is a necessary fallout of what has happened in the Supreme Court, but clarified that the police remand turning into a judicial record is routine.

“We did not get the relief we wanted in the Supreme Court, it certainly is a setback,” he noted.

Since the police remand was over, Singhvi said it could not have continued in police remand as it cannot happen for more than 15 days except in certain special cases.

“There would be some lapse of time, but I am confident that a person after being interrogated for so long,” he hoped.

Singhvi said the issue today is custodial interrogation required after a certain period of time.

“I am confident, we will get bail. Continued detention after so many days has to be justified.”   — PTI

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