The Supreme Court refused to grant protection to P. Chidambaram today.The court said that the investigating agency has to be given enough freedom to conduct its probe, and the grant of anticipatory bail at this stage would hamper the investigation.
“Anticipatory bail has to be exercised sparingly in cases of economic offences. Considering the facts and circumstances, this is not a fit case to grant anticipatory bail,” the Supreme Court said, in a huge blow to Mr Chidambaram, who has spent 15 days in CBI custody.
The Enforcement Directorate has accused Mr Chidambaram of money-laundering in the case involving INX Media, which is being investigated by the CBI. The CBI accuses Mr Chidambaram of misusing his place as Finance Minister of the country in 2007 while facilitating a huge infusion of foreign funds in INX Media at the instance of his son Karti Chidambaram.
The allegations against Mr Chidambaram and his son are based on the information from INX Media co-founders Peter Mukerjea and Indrani Mukerjea, who are now jailed in Mumbai in connection with the murder of Indrani’s daughter Sheena Bora. Karti Chidambaram, who allegedly received kickbacks for his role in securing the foreign funds, was arrested in 2018 and released after 23 days.
On Tuesday, the Supreme Court had extended Mr Chidambaram’s CBI custody for two days after his lawyer said the 74-year-old leader should not be sent to Tihar jail, where arrested persons are taken when they do not get bail after police custody expires. Mr Chidambaram’s petition challenging a non-bailable warrant against him and his ask for pre-arrest bail in the Aircel-Maxis case will also come up during the day.
The Rs. 3,500-crore Aircel-Maxis deal involves a clearance of $800 million foreign investment to the company in 2006, allegedly in exchange of kickbacks. While the approval was expected to come from a committee headed by the Prime Minister, it came illegally from the finance ministry, the CBI said.
