INX Media case: Supreme Court grants bail to Congress leader Chidambaram
Synopsis
Supreme Court today granted bail to Congress leader Chidambaram, who was arrested in connection with the INX Media case. However, he has been banned from talking to media and instructed to surrender his passport
New Delhi: The Supreme Court, on Wednesday (November 4), granted bail to Congress leader P Chidambaram. He had appealed against the order of the Delhi high court that had dismissed his bail petition in the INX Media case lodged by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).
He was granted bail after spending over 100 days in Tihar jail. He has been banned from talking to media and instructed to surrender his passport.
A bench of justices R Banumathi, AS Bopanna and Hrishikesh Roy pronounced the verdict.
On November 28, the top court had reserved the order on the petition filed by former finance minister Chidambaram, who is currently lodged in Tihar Jail. The high court had, on November 15, dismissed his bail plea and observed that prima facie allegations against him were serious in nature and he played an "active and key role" in the offense.
Chidambaram sought bail in a case pertaining to the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) clearance given to INX Media to the tune of Rs 305 crore in 2007 during his tenure as the finance minister.
CBI had registered a corruption case in this regard in May 2017. Later that year, the ED also lodged a money laundering case. The Congress leader was first arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on August 21 in the INX Media corruption case but was granted bail by the Supreme Court two months later.
He was arrested by the ED in the money laundering case on October 16.
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