Not running away from law: Chidambaram holds PC amidst arrest possibilities

The former Finance Minister, who faces arrest in connection with the INX media case, said he was in meeting throughout the day with lawyers.

"All we wanted is a hearing. No one is running away," he told media.

Denying all the charges levelled against him, Chidambaram said: "These are pathological lies."

"I was aghast that I was accused of hiding from the law. On the contrary, I was engaged in pursuit of justice," he said during the press conference at the party office.

"Now I shall walk with a clear conscience and head held high. In the name of freedom, I can only hope and pray that investigative agencies will respect the law," he stated.

Chidambaram said he has all faith in the law and will await the decision of the Supreme Court.

"Between now and Friday I shall respect the law. Respect of law means awaiting the decision of the Supreme Court," said the senior Congress leader.

In a massive setback for the former Union Finance Minister, the Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to hear P Chidambaram's plea on an urgent basis making the senior Congress leader face arrest in connection with the INX media case.

Chief Justice of India could not take up the case as he was busy with the Ayodhya case.

Abhishek Singhvi, one of the four lawyers who were advocating Chidambaram in the top court, said, "He is not a convict. He has always cooperated with the CBI and the ED. Also there is no question of fleeing as he is ready to handover his passport to the probe agencies."

A lookout notice has been issued by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for Chidambaram.

Chidambaram was found unavailable since the CBI and Enforcement Directorate (ED) reached his residence after the Delhi High Court rejected an anticipatory bail to the politician on Tuesday.

The federal investigating agency CBI put up a notice outside his residence at Jor Bagh in New Delhi asking him to appear before it within two hours.

The CBI team went to his Jor Bagh residence around 6:30 pm but did not find him there. The notice was put up at his residence in his absence.

According to the court, Chidamabaram could not be provided with the bail as he is a parliamentarian. He has been termed as the "kingpin" in the case.

Regarding Chidambaram going missing, Singhvi tweeted, "The hunger for sensationalisation in this case is deadly and could lead to character assassination of a towering political figure. How can somebody be an absconder who was with me till in legal conference with me till 6.30PM yesterday?"

What is the case?

The central probe agency had registered the PMLA case on the basis of a CBI FIR and had alleged irregularities in the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) clearance to INX Media for receiving overseas funds to the tune of Rs. 305 crore in 2007, when P Chidambaram was the Finance Minister.

Congress cries political vendetta

Crying political vendetta, the Congress has put up a tweet saying, "A govt that persecutes its citizens for speaking truth to power is only reiterating its own cowardly nature. @PChidambaram_IN is an extremely qualified & respected leader, he has served this nation with dedication & humility. We stand by his quest for truth no matter what."

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi tweeted, "Modi's Govt is using the ED, CBI & sections of a spineless media to character assassinate Mr Chidambaram. I strongly condemn this disgraceful misuse of power."

Accusing the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of conspiring against Chidambaram, Congress leader Priyanka said her party colleague is being shamefully hunted down.

Priyanka tweeted, "An extremely qualified and respected member of the Rajya Sabha, @PChidambaram_IN ji has served our nation with loyalty for decades including as Finance Minister & Home Minister.

He unhesitatingly speaks truth to power and exposes the failures of this government, but the truth is inconvenient to cowards so he is being shamefully hunted down. We stand by him and will continue to fight for the truth no matter what the consequences are."