INX Media case: Delhi HC allows P Chidambaram to submit additional documents for anticipatory bail
The court has yet to rule on the Congress leader’s petition seeking interim relief.
The Delhi High Court on Wednesday allowed former Union minister P Chidambaram to file additional documents in connection with his pending anticipatory bail plea in the INX Media case, ANI reported.
Justice Sunil Gaur allowed the application to record the additional documents such as printouts of several news articles published on February 3, according to which the Law Ministry informed the government that the Central Bureau of Investigation can be granted sanction to prosecute Chidambaram.
The High Court on January 25 had reserved its order and said the interim relief from arrest granted to the Congress leader will continue till a decision is passed on his bail plea. It had earlier extended his protection from arrest till January 24.
In the application filed through advocates Arshdeep Singh and Pramod Dubey, Chidambaram said it was necessary to bring on record these facts to show that the CBI has completed its probe in the case and has sought sanction to prosecute him afterward.
Both the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate, which have opposed the anticipatory bail plea, have sought Chidambaram’s custodial interrogation.
Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for Chidambaram, had told the court at the last hearing that the CBI had summoned Chidambaram for questioning only once last year. Sibal informed the court that Chidambaram was also not named as an accused in the first information report.
Sibal had argued that four of the five accused in the case are out on bail.
In May 2017, the Enforcement Directorate filed a money laundering case against the former finance minister’s son Karti Chidambaram, INX Media and its directors Indrani Mukerjea and Peter Mukerjea. The agency accused Karti Chidambaram’s company of receiving a bribe of Rs 10 lakh to help INX Media escape punitive action for taking Rs 305 crore in foreign funding in 2007 despite having clearance from the Foreign Exchange Promotion Board for only Rs 4 crore. P Chidambaram was finance minister at the time.