Supreme Court to hear Chidambaram's plea on anticipatory bail today
The Supreme Court of India has granted interim bail to former Union Minister and Congress leader P Chidambaram until Monday in the ED case. Supreme Court bench comprising Justices R Banumathi and AS Bopanna granted Chidambaram interim bail. Supreme Court also recorded in its order that P Chidambaram has always been on bail and he has been cooperating with the investigation in the ED matter.
LIVE UPDATES:
2.00 PM: Chidambaram will continue to be in custody as the apex court, did not intervene in the CBI case in which he has been sent for custodial interrogation of the agency till Monday.
1.00 PM: P Chidambaram has got interim bail until Monday from the Supreme Court of India in the ED case.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta and Chidambaram's lawyers got into a heated argument towards the end of the proceedings, media reports said.
While Mehta sought to hand over certain documents, Sibal called them fabricated and decried the practice of tendering papers like this.
12:40 PM: Kapil Sibal in Supreme Court: Delhi HC judgment is verbatim of what is in the note. Comma for comma, full stop for full stop. Everything is a copy, so the note becomes the basis of denying bail to Chidambaram.
12:30 PM: Kapil Sibal in SC - After arguments were over, Solicitor General gave a note to Justice Gaur, the HC judge. We were not given chance to reply on that. SG Tushar Mehta says "don't make false statements, I didn’t give it after the arguments were over." Kapil Sibal replies "have stated on oath."
12:24 PM: Kapil Sibal in Supreme Court: Chidambaram's fundamental right to access to justice has been frustrated by the way in which the plea against Delhi HC verdict was not heard despite moving the SC on time.
12:20 PM: Appeal filed by P Chidambaram in Supreme Court against the Delhi High Court order in CBI case to be heard on August 26.
12:15 PM: Hearing begins in Supreme Court on petitions filed by former Union Minister P Chidambaram against the Delhi High Court’s order rejecting his anticipatory bail plea in connection with INX media case probed by CBI and ED. (file pic)
What is the INX media case:
- The INX media case pertains to allegations of bribery by the company promoters - Peter and Indrani Mukerjea - to get foreign investment clearances. The couple are in jail for allegedly killing Indrani's caughter from an earlier marriage. Indrani turned approver in the INX media case and gave a testimony against Chidambaram, which largely forms the basis of the CBI case against the former finance minister.
- Founded in 2006 by the Mukerjeas, INX Media made an application seeking clearance to a foreign investment proposal on March 13, 2007. The application was made to the chairman of the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) -- an erstwhile inter-ministerial body that was responsible for processing foreign direct investment (FDI) proposals.
- The company had proposed to get FDI worth Rs 4.62 crore, which was cleared by the FIPB with an approval from then finance minister Chidambaram. But in violation of the conditions, the company received Rs 305 crore with a premium of Rs 800 per share. The investment raised suspicion, prompting the Income Tax (IT) department to issue a letter to the FIPB, demanding a probe in the matter. The board told the IT department that the matter was verified and also sought clarifications from INX Media.
- In order to "wriggle out" of a situation that could have led to punitive action, the company entered into a criminal conspiracy with Karti Chidambaram, the minister's son and the promoter of Chess Management, to get the issue addressed "amicably by influencing" public servants in the FIPB, according to an FIR filed by the CBI.
- It has further alleged that an amount of Rs 10 lakh was paid to Advantage Strategic for management consultancy charges towards the FIPB notification and clarification. The company also generated invoices of Rs 3.5 crore towards INX Media. According to CBI, Advantage Strategic is indirectly controlled by Karti, which has been strongly denied by him and his father.
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