Former finance minister P Chidambaram, who has allegedly been involved in the INX media case, has been incommunicado ever since the Delhi high court dismissed his anticipatory bail. The CBI and ED officials are on the lookout for him
New Delhi: The Delhi high court dismissed Congress leader P Chidambaram’s anticipatory bail in the INX media case, making way for investigating agencies to arrest him. Chidambaram has however remained incommunicado since.
Just hours after the rejection of Chidambaram's anticipatory bail application, a team of CBI officials reached his Jor Bagh residence in Delhi around 6.45 pm only to find him missing.
Moments after the CBI’s team left the residence of the senior Congress leader, a team of Enforcement Directorate (ED) officials reached his residence to arrest him.
Teams of both the agencies continue to search for Chidambaram. However, he has not been arrested so far.
Chidambaram’s legal team, led by senior advocate Kapil Sibal, approached the Registrar (Judicial) of the Supreme Court for an urgent hearing. It was asked to mention the matter before the appropriate bench on Wednesday morning (August 21).
In the high court, Justice Sunil Gaur observed that “custodial interrogation” of Chidambaram “is required for an effective investigation” and that the “offenders must be exposed, no matter what their status”. The judge, who is scheduled to retire Friday, vacated his July 2018 order granting interim protection from arrest in both the cases.
The high court said, “…it cannot be forgotten that the petitioner was finance minister at the relevant time and he had given FDI clearance to the INX media group for receiving overseas funds to the tune of Rs 305 crore”.
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