The Supreme Court on Thursday refused urgent hearing on a plea by senior Congress leader P Chidambaram’s son Karti Chidambaram, accused in several criminal cases, seeking permission to go abroad.

A bench headed by Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi said the issue of Karti Chidambaram visiting abroad is not an “important matter” requiring urgent hearing. “Karti Chidambaram going abroad is not a matter to be heard tomorrow. Sorry,” said Justice Gogoi. The bench also comprised Justices U U Lalit and K M Joseph. CJI added that Judges have more work than they can handle. “They do twenty hours of work sometimes,” said Gogoi.

Karti Chidambaram has been facing several criminal cases including the grant of Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) clearance in the INX-Media case.

—India Legal Bureau