What is the significance of ED's move to arrest Chidambaram

The Enforcement Directorate is closing in on former Union finance minister P. Chidambaram and is likely to arrest him anytime soon.

Chidambaram has been produced before a special judge in Delhi on Monday afternoon with the ED making out a case for his arrest and demanding his custodial interrogation in a money laundering case linked to the INX media case. The ED is likely to be granted permission to interrogate him in Tihar Jail or place him under arrest, said sources.

Sources in the agency said they have questioned relevant people in the case, including Chidambaram’s son Karti Chidambaram, after the arrest of the former Union minister by the CBI on August 21. Chidambaram had offered to present himself before the ED but was sent to Tihar Jail after his CBI custody was over. The ED had said it will seek his custody at the relevant time.

If the ED only gets permission to interrogate Chidambaram, he will be questioned in Tihar Jail. However, if he is arrested, he will be kept in the ED guest house and questioned on various aspects, including the statements of twelve people already recorded by the agency in the money laundering case, said sources.

The ED's move to seek Chidambaram’s arrest gains significance as it comes before his bail hearing in the Supreme Court on Tuesday. The Congress leader’s bail plea was earlier rejected by the High Court. This implies that Chidambaram may not be able to walk free anytime soon as the ED will press for a fifteen-day custody.

The ED is keen to question him on 17 bank accounts and shell companies abroad. Chidambaram is accused of favouring his son Karti in the INX media case by misusing the office of the finance minister to grant Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) approval to INX Media group for receiving overseas funds of Rs 305 crore in 2007.

The ED lodged a money laundering case in this regard in 2017.