CBI arrests Ex-Finance Minister P Chidambaram in INX Media case capping day-long drama
New Delhi, Aug 21 (IBNS): Ringing the curtains down to day-long drama that reached a high point when the federal probe agency sleuths scaled the walls of P Chidambaram's house, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Wednesday night arrested the former Union Finance Minister and senior Congress leader for irregularities in the INX Media case after the Supreme Court refused to hear his bail plea on an urgent basis.
In an unprecedented development, a team of CBI reached the Jor Bagh residence of the senior politician, thumped at the gate and then scaled the wall of his house to enter inside the residence right after he left the Congress headquarters earlier in the evening following a press conference.
After taking the senior politician into custody, the CBI team drove to the headquarters along with him where the former Finance Minister will be questioned.
He will be then produced before a court on Thursday.
Reacting to his father's arrest, Karti Chidambaram called the arrest as a political vendetta and said: "They still don't have any charge sheet. If you have no charge-sheet, there is no case."
Earlier in the evening, the senior Congress leader appeared at the Congress headquarters hours after he was reportedly "absconding" and said that he was not hiding from the law but was seeking legal protection.
The former Finance Minister, who is accused 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.
A lookout notice was earlier 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.
In a massive setback for the former Union Finance Minister, the Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to hear his plea on an urgent basis making the senior Congress leader face arrest.
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 representing 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 hand over his passport to the probe agencies."
The federal investigating agency on Tuesday had also 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 yesterday 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 (Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002) 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.
The CBI had filed the FIR on May 15, 2017 alleging irregularities in FIPB clearance to INX Media.
The money laundering case was filed the same month by the Enforcement Directorate (ED). ED had also allegedly found links of INX Media with a company associated with Chidambaram’s son Karti Chidambaram. The documents allegedly led to unravelling of payments made to Karti’s company by INX Media when the FIPB approval was granted.
INX Media Pvt Ltd. was owned by Peter and Indrani Mukerjea, now in jail after being accused in the Sheena Bora murder case.
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