The Delhi High Court has issued a clarification stating there was no “cut and paste” job in its order pronounced in the bail plea of the former Union Minister P Chidamabaram in the INX Media case as alleged by news reports published in ‘The Hindu’ and the ‘Indian Express’.
Taking suo moto cognisance of the reports published in ‘The Hindu’ and the ‘Indian Express’ alleging that there was a cut-paste job in the Delhi HC order, the single judge bench of Justice Suresh Kumar Kait, who pronounced the order last week, asked the Chief Editors of the two news organisations to clarify and publish that there was no copy-paste job.
In order to cope with the contentions regarding the 2013 Amendment to the Prevention of Money Laundering Act while deciding on P Chidambaram’s bail, the courts had cited the High Court’s order in Rohit Tandon vs Enforcement Directorate. However, in the later paragraphs of no. 35 & 36, it accidentally went on to reproduce the facts of the Rohit Tandon case as recorded in paragraph 16 & 18 of the order passed in the case in May 2017.
The Delhi HC‘s issued an explicit clarification saying that the paragraphs quoted only record the observations made in the Rohit Tandon case and they are not made in the P Chidambaram’s INX Media case. Reportedly the ‘confusion‘ arose as the paragraph of Rohit Tandon vs ED was not in quotes and The Hindu and Indian Express called it ‘cut-paste’ job.
“It is mentioned nowhere in the order that the observation made in para 35 is of the present case (in the case of P Chidambaram). Thus there is no cut and paste as alleged and I hereby make it clear that that the observations made in para 35 shall be read as and are confined to the case of Rohit Tandon vs Enforcement Directorate,” Justice Kait said.
Besides, the investigation agency Enforcement Directorate (ED) too has moved the Delhi High Court seeking rectification of the “accidental factual errors” and “inadvertent slips” in the judgment given by the High Court while deciding on the bail plea applied by P Chidambaram in the INX Media case. The court may take up the matter tomorrow.
Chidambaram is currently lodged in Tihar jail and is facing investigation over his alleged role in granting FIPB approvals to the INX Media company while he was holding the position of Union Minister in the UPA regime.
