The Madras High Court held a special sitting on Saturday and granted interim anticipatory bail of four weeks to former Union Minister P. Chidambaram’s wife Nalini Chidambaram, 72, in the Saradha chit fund scam case.
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Justice G.K. Ilanthiraiyan directed the petitioner, a designated senior counsel, to surrender before the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate at Egmore here within 15 days and execute a bond for ₹10,000 along with two sureties.
She was further directed to approach the competent court in West Bengal within the stipulated period of four weeks and obtain appropriate relief in the case, since the crime had reportedly taken place there.
The judge entertained the interim advance bail plea here on the sole ground that the petitioner was a resident of Chennai and there was imminent threat of her arrest following a supplementary charge-sheet filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation on Friday.
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He agreed with Senior Counsel A.R.L. Sundaresan, representing the petitioner, that inter-State anticipatory bail could be granted as an interim measure according to a judgment delivered by a Division Bench of the High Court in 1992.
In her petition, Ms. Chidambaram claimed she had no connection whatsoever with the alleged chit fund scam but for having received legal fees of ₹1.4 crore for professional services rendered by her as a lawyer during 2010-12.