New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday refused pre-arrest bail to P. Chidambaram in the INX Media money laundering case lodged by the Enforcement Directorate.
The top court dismissed Chidambaram’s plea challenging the Delhi high court verdict denying him anticipatory bail in the case.
A bench of Justices R. Banumathi and A.S. Bopanna said this is not a fit case to grant anticipatory bail. Grant of anticipatory bail to Chidambaram at this stage will hamper investigation, it said.
The investigating agency has to be given sufficient freedom to conduct probe into the case, the apex court said.
It also rejected Chidambaram’s application for direction to the ED to produce transcripts of his questioning conducted by the agency on three dates. The bench said, however, that Chidambaram can apply for regular bail in the case.
The apex court was also supposed to pass an order on his plea challenging the issuance of a non-bailable warrant against him and the subsequent remand orders for custodial interrogation issued by the trial court in the corruption case lodged by the Central Bureau of Investigation. However, Chidambaram asked to withdraw the plea, and the court allowed him to do so.
Chidambaram’s 15-day CBI custody, ordered by the special court in five spells, which started after his arrest on August 21 night, comes to end today. With the Supreme Court denying him anticipatory bail, the ED can now take Chidambaram into custody.
His fate will also be decided by the trial court which reserved order on anticipatory bail applications in the cases registered by the CBI and the ED in the Aircel-Maxis deal scam.
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In the Supreme Court, a bench of Justices R. Banumathi and A.S. Bopanna had reserved orders on August 29 on Chidambaram’s plea in the ED case.
While reserving orders, the bench had said it would decide on the question of whether to look into the documents placed before it by the ED in a sealed cover. On Thursday, the judges said that they had decided not to look at the documents and would be returning them to the ED.
The top court had directed the ED to produce the documents in a sealed cover with the authenticated seal of the Directorate of Enforcement.
Chidambaram, who was arrested on August 21, is in CBI custody till Thursday in the INX Media corruption case. He is likely to be produced before the special judge on the expiry of his remand period.
The top court had on September 3 ordered that Chidambaram would remain in the CBI custody till September 5 despite the probe agency insisting that it did not require his further custodial interrogation.
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The CBI had lodged an FIR on May 15, 2017, alleging irregularities in Foreign Investment Promotion Board clearance granted to INX Media group for receiving overseas funds of Rs 305 crore in 2007 during Chidambaram’s tenure as finance minister. Thereafter, ED lodged a money laundering case in 2017.
The Delhi high court had on August 20 rejected the anticipatory bail pleas of Chidambaram in the INX media scam cases lodged by the CBI and ED.
If the apex court gives relief in both the CBI and ED cases, Chidambaram will be out on bail.
(With PTI inputs)