The Delhi High Court on Wednesday listed former Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram’s bail application in the INX Media case for hearing on Thursday, ANI reported.

The Congress leader, who is in Tihar Jail at present, has also challenged a trial court order sending him to judicial custody for 14 days in the case being investigated by the Central Bureau of Investigation.

On September 5, a Central Bureau of Investigation court had sent Chidambaram to jail till September 19 in connection with the case. The court directed that Chidambaram be kept in a separate cell as he has Z-security. It also allowed him to carry his medicines to jail.

On September 9, Chidambaram said he did not want any officials associated with the INX Media case to be arrested as they had done nothing wrong.

Meanwhile, the former Union finance minister asked the Centre for a plan to tackle the economic slowdown. “I am deeply concerned about the economy,” he tweeted on Wednesday. “The poor are the worst affected. Lower incomes, fewer jobs, less trade and lower investment affect the poor and the middle class. Where is the plan to get the country out of this decline and gloom?” Earlier, the Congress leader had clarified that the tweets were put out by his family.

According to the CBI, there were irregularities in the foreign direct investment clearance granted to INX Media by the Foreign Investment Promotion Board in 2007. The Congress leader was the Union finance minister at the time. The company was then owned by businesspersons Indrani and Peter Mukerjea, who are lodged in jail in connection with the murder of Indrani Mukerjea’s daughter Sheena Bora.

The CBI claimed that Chidambaram’s son, Karti Chidambaram, allegedly received Rs 10 lakh from the company for helping it avoid punitive action for taking Rs 305 crore in foreign funding in 2007, despite having clearance for only Rs 4 crore.

The Enforcement Directorate had filed a money laundering case in May 2017 against Karti Chidambaram, INX Media and the Mukerjeas. The former owners of INX Media reportedly told the investigating agencies that Chidambaram had asked them to meet his son and help him with his business.

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