Arrested, Chidambaram spends night at CBI HQs he once inaugurated
Chidambaram's arrest followed his press conference at the Congress headquarters, where he said he was seeking protection from the law.
Former Union Minister P Chidambaram was Wednesday arrested by a CBI team from his Jor Bagh residence in New Delhi. Chidambaram's arrest followed his press conference at the Congress headquarters, where he said he was seeking protection from the law. Chidambaram was taken for a medical checkup post his arrest.
Chidambaram was taken to CBI headquarters where he was interrogated. Congress workers sat on a protest outside his house and tried to stall CBI officers when he was being taken away in a white car.
Meanwhile, in Chennai, Chidambaram's son Karti termed CBI's action as a 'politically motivated witch-hunt'.
"Its politically motivated witch-hunt," Karti Chidambaram tweeted.
"The drama and spectacle being enacted by the agencies is to simply sensationalise and satisfy the voyeuristic pleasure of some," he added.
This is an attempt at diverting attention from serious issues and theatrics and voyuerism to satisfy some people, Karti said.
Earlier, in a dramatic move, former Finance Minister P Chidambaram had appeared at the Congress headquarters to declare his innocence and asked probe agencies to "respect" the law till the Supreme Court hears his bail plea on Friday.
Clearly, the investigative agencies were not impressed by Chidambaram's plea. When the CBI team followed Chidambaram at his residence, they met resistance from former Union Minister's home staff.
The CBI officers had to jump the boundary wall of Chidambaram's Jor Bagh residence. Senior lawyers Abhishek Manu Singhvi and Kapil Sibal were present at Chidambaram's residence at the time of his arrest.
Chidambaram, who failed to get immediate relief from the Supreme Court on his plea to stay the Delhi High Court order dismissing his anticipatory bail petition on Tuesday, put up a strong defence of himself and his family members, saying none of them has been directly accused of any offence by the probe agencies in the FIR or the charge sheet.
Rejecting reports of his evading the law, he told reports that the charges against him and his son were "nothing further from truth".
What is INX Media Case?
The INX Media case relates to the alleged irregularities in the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) clearance to a media group, INX Media. The group received overseas funds to the tune of Rs 307 crore during the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government.
A foreign direct investment (FDI) of over Rs 305 crore was flagged by the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU-IND) of the finance ministry in January 2008. This amount was flagged by three Mauritius-based companies in INX Media Pvt Ltd, then owned by Peter and Indrani Mukerjea.
The Income Tax department had handed over the case to the Enforcement Directorate (ED). Thereafter, in 2010, the ED had registered a case against INX Media for alleged Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) violations.
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Watch: Chidambaram addresses press conference at Congress Headquarters before arrest