New Delhi:
The Delhi High Court will Saturday pronounce its judgment on the bail plea by former finance minister P Chidambaram in a money laundering case filled by the Enforcement Directorate in relation with the INX media case. The Enforcement Directorate had taken him into the cutody inside the Tihar Jail on October 16. He was first arrested by the CBI in the INX media case on August 21 and was then sent to Tihar jail. The Congress leader has sought bail from the court on medical grounds, citing health issues.
Earlier last month, a Delhi court had sent Chidambaram to the judicial custody till November 13 in the INX Media money laundering case by the ED. Special judge Ajay Kumar Kuhar dismissed the plea of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for one day custodial interrogation of Chidambaram.
The court directed Tihar authorities to provide Chidambaram with medicines, western toilet, security and separate cell. It also said the senior Congress leader may be allowed to have home-cooked food considering his medical condition. Chidambaram was arrested by the CBI on August 21 in the INX Media corruption case and is currently in the ED custody in a related money laundering matter.
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The CBI had registered an FIR on May 15, 2017 alleging irregularities in a Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) clearance granted to the INX Media group for receiving overseas funds of Rs 305 crore in 2007, during Chidambaram's tenure as finance minister.
The Enforcement Directorate vehemently opposed the bail plea of Chidambaram, who is in jail in the INX Media money-laundering case, saying he has tried to influence and threaten witnesses. The ED counsel contended that the set of evidence in the money-laundering case and the CBI corruption case is different and the PMLA case is more heinous and "much, much, much more serious than it meets the eyes".
