After multiple pleas, senior Congress leader and former Union Minister P Chidambaram was granted bail by the Supreme Court in the ongoing INX Media Scam case. This overturns the Delhi High Court’s previous decision to reject his bail applications.
Crux of the Matter
The bail was granted on a personal bond of 1 Lakh.
Chidamabram has to be present for further interrogations, and is disallowed from leaving the country without prior permission.
“The appellant Chidambaram is said to be aged 74 years and is also said to be suffering from age-related health problems. Considering the above factors and the facts and circumstances of the case, we are of the view that the appellant is entitled to be granted bail,” the judges said.
P Chidambaram had been locked up in Tihar jail for around 2 months.
Curiopedia
The INX Media case refers to an ongoing high-profile money laundering investigation in India. INX Media, founded by media entrepreneurs Indrani Mukerjea along with husband Peter Mukerjea, allegedly violated foreign investment laws. In March 2007, INX Media had approached the Chairman of Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB), for permission for foreign direct investment (FDI) from three non-resident investors based in Mauritius. P. Chidambaram was union finance minister at the time. When the Income Tax Department sought clarifications on the matter in February 2008, INX Media allegedly sought to evade the investigation by approaching Karti Chidambaram to leverage his family name. The CBI alleged that Karti Chidambaram received kickbacks to the tune of ₹10 lakh for his assistance, via his consulting firm Advantage Strategic Consulting Ltd. More Info
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