Election case: HC grants time to Chidambara to appear

The Madras High Court on Monday granted former Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram time till February 7, 2020 to appear before it for cross-examination in a case challenging his election as MP from Sivaganga in 2009 Lok Sabha polls.

Justice Pushpa Sathyanarayana granted two months’ time to Chidambaram after the senior Congress leader’s counsel made a request in this regard. The case pertains to Chidambaram winning the Sivaganga parliamentary constituency by a margin of 3,354 votes against his AIADMK rival Raja Kannappan.

The case has been pending in the court for the last 10 years. Kannappan had filed the petition against Chidambaram’s election in 2009 but it has been dragging on for a decade. His counsel had told the court in October that he had only around 40 questions to be posed during cross examination.