INX Media: Delhi HC denies bail to P Chidambaram in case by ED

The Delhi High Court today denied bail to former Union Minister P Chidambaram in the INX Media money laundering case being probed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED)..The judgment was passed by a Single Judge Bench of Justice Suresh Kumar Kait. He observed that prima facie, the allegations are serious in nature and that P Chidambaram played a “key and active role”. The order goes on to state,.“Entire community would be aggrieved if such offenders are not booked.”.The Court nonetheless added that its observations are not conclusive in nature..The INX Media case pertains to the alleged irregularities in the Foreign Investment Promotion Board clearance to INX Media when P Chidambaram was the Finance Minister of India..It is the case of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the ED that P Chidambaram and his son Karti Chidambaram received illegal gratification from INX Media owners Peter and Indrani Mukherjea for the clearance..In his bail plea filed through Advocate Arshdeep Singh, Chidambaram had argued that his arrest was malafide and done with the intention to harm his reputation. It was further claimed that he should be enlarged on bail as there was no incriminating evidence against him and all other accused in the case were already on bail..Claiming that he has “deep roots in the society”, Chidambaram had also contended that he had no propensity to evade the process of law and had been and will be available for the investigation..The Enforcement Directorate, on the other hand, had argued that the manner in which the high office of the country was misused by Chidambaram for personal gains disentitled him from seeking any relief..It was claimed that there was “overwhelming incriminating evidence” to establish that Chidambaram was prima facie guilty of offences under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. The agency also raised concerns of tampering of evidence and influencing of witnesses by Chidambaram and his co-conspirators..The CBI had arrested P Chidambaram on August 21 after his anticipatory bail plea in the case was rejected by the Delhi High Court..Chidambaram, who spent a fortnight in police custody after his arrest, was thereafter remanded to judicial custody. Later, his regular bail was denied by the Delhi High Court as well. He was granted regular bail in the CBI case by the Supreme Court subsequently. The CBI’s review petition before the Supreme Court against the order granting bail to Chidambaram is presently pending..Meanwhile, Chidambaram was arrested by the ED in connection with the money laundering case on October 16, and was subsequently sent to custody. He was sent to judicial custody on October 30. His judicial custody was extended till November 27 earlier this week..Chidambaram was represented by Senior Advocates Kapil Sibal, Abhishek Manu Singhvi, N Hariharan, and Dayan Krishnan. .ED was represented by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta.