The Delhi High Court on Wednesday granted interim protection from arrest to former Finance Minister P. Chidambaram in the INX Media money laundering case till August 1.
Justice A.K. Pathak directed Enforcement Directorate (ED) not to take any coercive steps against Mr. Chidambaram in the case till further order from the court.
It also directed Mr. Chidambaram to cooperate with ED’s probe and not to leave the country without the court’s prior permission. The court's order came on an anticipatory bail plea moved by Mr. Chidambaram to grant him protection from arrest from ED in the case.
Additional Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for ED, opposed Mr. Chidambaram’s plea on the point of maintainability contending that the politician was “forum shopping” which could not be allowed.
Mr. Mehta argued that Mr. Chidambaram had moved the trial court for anticipatory bail in the Aircel Maxis case, which had similar modus operandi to the INX Media case.
On the other hand, senior advocate Dayan Krishnan, appearing for the Congress leader, contended that, “There is apprehension that I (Mr. Chidambaram) can be arrested.”
Mr. Chidambaram’s plea said that though no summons have ever been served to him by the ED in this case, he has an apprehension of arrest in view of the summons issued to him by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which is investigating the scheduled offence.
It said the ED has also opposed his anticipatory bail plea in another case relating to the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) approval in relation to the Aircel-Maxis case and “it cannot be ruled out that the ED mayalso summon him and/or illegally arrest him even without issuing summons.”
A trial court here had on Monday granted protection from arrest till August 7 to Mr. Chidambaram in the Aircel-Maxis case in which he and his son Karti Chidambaram were named in the charge sheet filed by the CBI recently.
The CBI had registered an FIR on May 15 last year against alleged irregularities in the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) clearance to INX Media for receiving overseas funds to the tune of ₹305 crore in 2007 when Mr. Chidambaram was Finance Minister.
The CBI had in February arrested Mr. Karti Chidambaram at the Chennai airport on allegations that he had demanded and accepted $1 million for scuttling a possible probe against INX Media for violation of FIPB conditions in 2007. Mr. Karti Chidambaram was released on bail.
