Wreckless, wild allegations levelled at me: Karti

Former Finance Minister P Chidambaram's son Karti, who is in CBI custody in the INX Media case, on Tuesday said the case against him was "baseless" and the allegations were "wreckless and wild".

Karti's remarks came after special CBI judge Sunil Rana extended his custody till March 9 following a petition by the investigating agency seeking nine days of his custody for further interrogation.

"This is a baseless case. These are wild and wreckless allegations," Karti told reporters when asked whether he want to respond to the case.

Karti was brought to the court at around 11:45 AM for hearing the CBI application for his remand 15 minutes later. However, Additional Solicitor General Tushar Mehta could not reach the court on time and the CBI requested the court to postpone the hearing till 2 PM, which was accepted.

When he appeared, Mehta apologised to the court saying he got late as the proceedings in the Supreme Court, where its Constitution Bench was hearing a case related to land acquisition, got delayed.

Karti's parents Chidambaram and Nalini, both prominent lawyers, were also present inside the court room from the time Karti was brought in and later taken to CBI office after court proceedings ended at around 5:15 PM.

The parents interacted with Karti with the court's permission after the remand was extended. Karti was seen showing a thumbs up sign to his mother to tell her that he was fine. He also told some of his supporters who had come to the court that they should not worry and that he would come out unscathed.

After he was taken to the CBI office, some people also shouted slogans on Tilak Marg, just outside the court, in his support.