Former Union Minister P Chidambaram, who was arrested on August 21 in connection with the alleged money laundering case relating to INX Media by the CBI, gets bail on Tuesday, October 22. The Supreme Court announced the decision at least two months after he was arrested.
However, Chidambaram, who is currently in the judicial custody of Enforcement Directorate (ED), will continue to remain in the Tihar jail in the national capital. The 74-year-old Congress leader can now have access to home-cooked food, a separate cell, a western toilet, spectacles and medicines. The SC also announced that Chidambaram will have to make himself available for interrogation as and when called by the probe agency.
The top court bench, including Justices R Banumathi, AS Bopanna and Hrishikesh Roy, directed Chidambaram to not leave the country without permission. The SC bench had set aside the September 30 verdict of the Delhi High Court denying bail to Chidambaram in the INC Media case.
What is the INX media case?
The INX Media case of money laundering pertains to the alleged irregularities in the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) clearance to the media group for receiving overseas funds to the tune of Rs 307 crore when P Chidambaram was the union finance minister in the then Congress-led UPA government.
Chidambaram was in legal trouble as the Delhi High Court refused to grant him anticipatory bail in the INX Media corruption case. Earlier, Chidambaram's lawyers had challenged the Delhi HC's order which rejected his request for protection from arrest. The Delhi HC said that Chidambaram seems to be the "kingpin" and "key conspirator" who needs to be interrogated in custody.
