New Delhi:A special court on Thursday reserved its order on former Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram's application seeking to surrender to the Enforcement Directorate in a money laundering case after hearing arguments from both sides.
Justice Ajay Kumar Kuhar will pronounce his order on Friday.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Enforcement Directorate (ED), sought the dismissal of the application saying that the enforcement agency does not want Chidambaram's custody because they are 'using this time to investigate the matter'.
Advocates Amit Mahajan and Nitesh Rana also appeared for the ED along with Mehta.
"As of now, we don't want his custodial remand. We will seek his custody at an appropriate time. Since Chidambaram is already in judicial custody, he cannot tamper with evidence or influence witnesses. We are using this time to its maximum to investigate the matter," Mehta told the court.
He also said that choosing the date of arrest is not a right of the accused.
"We are waiting to see if the 'conducive time' occurs immediately at the end of Chidambaram's judicial custody. So we want dismissal of this application of surrender moved by P Chidambaram as it is not maintainable," Mehta said.
The solicitor general submitted that the arrest was necessary but ED cannot be directed to arrest him (Chidambaram) on a particular date.