A Delhi court has granted the CBI a two-day transit remand for Mahadev Online Book founder Sourabh Chandrakar, after a near full day of hearings over the legality of his arrest. The CBI produced Chandrakar before Principal District and Sessions Judge Nikhil Chopra at the Rouse Avenue Court on Monday, seeking custody to move him to Raipur. He was taken into custody on Sunday evening after a CBI team brought him to India from Oman following his extradition. Chandrakar is wanted in two CBI cases and in a money-laundering case lodged by the Enforcement Directorate (ED). His counsel, Tushar Giri, argued that the extradition order was issued by reference to a Government of India undertaking that Chandrakar would not face trial in any other case except the ED’s money laundering case listed in the extradition order. Giri told the court that the Omani court’s extradition order did not mention the CBI case, challenging the CBI’s jurisdiction to arrest him. He said he was disputing the legality of the arrest and argued that CBI could not proceed in a way that undermined the extradition request. CBI, represented by Special Public Prosecutor V K Pathak and Naveen Nischal, argued that the arrest was carried out only by executing a warrant issued by the Raipur court. Pathak told the court that there was no bar on arrest or trial against a judicial order passed by the Raipur court, and that jurisdictional points and the doctrine of speciality could be raised before the court handling the matter. The judge considered both sides, including the ED’s team, which had come to press for custody if the transit remand was denied. In his order, Judge Nikhil Chopra said the doctrine of speciality requires that the accused be tried only for the offence specified in the extradition order. He also said the court could not ignore that the ED case arises from the predicate offence that is subject matter of RC No. RPZO/10/2022. The court also dealt with arguments over the logistics of transport. The CBI had sought permission to take Chandrakar to Raipur in handcuffs, citing the involvement of “big people” and that it was a high-profile case, but the written order did not mention whether that request was accepted or rejected. Chandrakar remains in CBI custody under the two-day transit remand as the matter is set to proceed before a special court in Raipur.