A team of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) reached the residence of former Union finance minister P. Chidambaram in New Delhi on Tuesday evening, hours after the Delhi High Court rejected his anticipatory bail plea in the INX media scam case. The officials of both the agencies, however, left his home as he was not there.
The senior Congress leader is facing arrest in the corruption and money laundering cases related to the Rs 3,500-crore Aircel-Maxis deal and the RS 305 crore INX Media case.
Soon after the HC order on Tuesday, Chidambaram had approached the Supreme Court, but he failed to get an audience from Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi for urgent hearing of his appeal.
A team of lawyers led by senior advocate and Chidambaram's party colleague Kapil Sibal was told by Registrar (Judicial) to mention the petition on Wednesday morning in the apex court.
Earlier, while dismissing his advance bail plea, the high court said the INX media case was a "classic case of money laundering" and it was of the prima facie opinion that the former minister's custodial interrogation was required for an effective investigation in the matter.
Justice Sunil Gaur said that granting bail in such cases would send a wrong message to the society.
The high court had on July 25, 2018 granted interim protection from arrest to Chidambaram in both the cases and it has been extended from time to time. It was during his tenure as finance minister in the UPA-I government that clearances from the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) were given to the two ventures.
In the INX Media case, the CBI had registered an FIR on May 15, 2017 alleging irregularities in the FIPB clearance granted to the media group for receiving overseas funds of Rs 305 crore in 2007 during Chidambaram's tenure as finance minister.
Thereafter, the ED in 2018 lodged the money laundering case in this regard.
Chidambaram's petition had said that though no summons had ever been served on him by the ED in this case, he had an apprehension of arrest in view of the summons issued to him by the CBI.
With inputs from PTI
