Though former Union minister Chidambaram and his coterie belabour that no FIR has been registered against him, the Delhi high court already took cognisance of this fact, while delivering the verdict, basing its judgment on the evidence provided by the CBI
Bengaluru: When former Union minister P Chidambaram suddenly surfaced from nowhere and held a press conference at the Congress headquarters on Wednesday (August 22), the point he belaboured was that neither his name nor the names of his family members figured in the charge sheet.
He also went on to say that his name did not figure in the FIR. While his party colleagues parrot this stance of the former minister, the Delhi high court, which refused to grant him anticipatory bail, termed it “inconsequential”.
Sunil Gaur, the judge observed that “the gravity of offence committed by the petitioner is quite evident from the case diaries, etc, produced by the investigating agencies.”
The order further added, “The petitioner can’t claim parity with co-accused who are on bail as it can’t be forgotten that petitioner was the finance minister at the relevant time and he had given FDI clearances to the INX Media Group for receiving overseas funds to the tune of Rs 305 crore.”
It is pertinent to mention that the same court had stayed his arrest as many as 22 times before deeming it fit that he doesn’t deserve insulation from the arrest.
On Tuesday (August 20), accused Chidambaram had mysteriously gone missing moments after the Delhi high court rejected his bail plea. He abandoned his driver and clerk and switched off his cell phone.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) held searches in different places, but were not able to find him. Ultimately, last night (August 21) CBI sleuths scaled the compound of Chidambaram’s house and took him away in an Ertiga to the CBI headquarters.
The INX Media case dates back to 2007 when the Indrani Mukerjea and Peter Mukerjea promoted company got clearance for FDI of the said amount.
Incidentally, the last nail in the coffin for Chidambaram was Indrani and Peter turning approvers.
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