The Supreme Court granted bail to former finance minister P Chidambaram on Tuesday, two months after he was arrested by the CBI in the INX Media corruption case. A bench headed by Justice R Banumathi set aside the Delhi High Court’s September 30 verdict denying him bail in the corruption case. The bench, also comprising Justice A S Bopanna and Hrishikesh Roy, granted bail to Chidambaram on a personal bond of Rs 1 lakh with one surety of the like amount.
The top court said Chidambaram be released on bail if not required in any other case. The bench made it clear that Chidambaram will not leave the country without prior permission of the court and make himself available for interrogation as and when called by the probe agency. The bench clarified that its observation in the order granting bail to Chidambaram in the INX media corruption case would not have any bearing in other pending cases against him.
He is currently in ED’s custody in connection with a separate money laundering case. Chidambaram was arrested in connection with the graft case on August 21 by the CBI, which chargesheeted him and others, including his son Karti and some bureaucrats, for causing loss to the exchequer by allegedly committing offences under the Prevention of Corruption Act and the Indian Penal Code.
