New Delhi:
Senior Congress leader and former finance minister P Chidambaram walked out of the Tihar jail in New Delhi on Wednesday night after spending 106 days in prison in the INX Media money-laundering case. Several Congress workers greeted the former Union minister after he stepped out of the prison. Earlier in the day, Chidambaram was granted bail by the Supreme Court in the INX Media money laundering case.
Waking out of the jail, Chidambaram said: "After 106 days of incarceration, not one charge was framed against me."
Even before Chidambaram's release, his supporters had gathered outside gate no 3 of the prison, bringing traffic to a standstill on the stretch. Chidambaram's son Karti who was waiting outside the jail said he was elated as his father was all set to return home after 106 days.
"It has been a long wait. I am very grateful that the Supreme Court has given him bail. I am very grateful to entire top Congress leadership, including Sonia Gandhi, Manmohan Singh, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra who have supported him through all this," he told reporters.
A three-judge Supreme Court bench, headed by Justice R Banumathi, granted bail to the 74-year-old former Union finance minister, who has been in custody since August 21 when he was arrested by the CBI in the INX-Media corruption case. The Enforcement Directorate had arrested him on October 16 in the money laundering case.
