Chidambaram likely to attend Parliament today
Former Finance Minister and senior Congress leader P Chidambaram is set to address the media at the Congress headquarters Thursday afternoon. Chidambaram was released from Tihar jail on Wednesday after he was granted bail by the Supreme Court in the INX Media case. He had spent 106 days of "pre-trail incarceration" in jail. Chidambaram is also likely to attend the Parliament on Thursday.
"In the 106 days of pre-trial incarceration not a single charge was framed against me," Chidambaram told the media soon after stepping out of the jail.
He was received by his son and Lok Sabha member Karti Chidambaram and was welcomed by slogan-shouting party workers.
"I will speak all about that tomorrow (Thursday)," he said before getting into the waiting vehicle that drove straight to party interim chief Sonia Gandhi's residence at 10, Jan Path.
After an around 20-minute meeting, he left for his Jor Bagh house, the same residence from where he was arrested more than three months back and had a 30-minute meeting with Gandhi's close confidante Ahmed Patel.
Earlier, showing his reluctance to speak to the media outside the jail, Chidambaram said, "I can't comment on the case. I am going to obey the Supreme Court order."
Meanwhile, Several Congress workers had gathered outside his residence to welcome him. Some Congress activists were also spotted playing guitar and singing 'Nyay do, nyay do' (Deliver justice) outside his residence.
While in jail, Chidambaram was visited by the top Congress brass, including Sonia Gandhi and former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, former party chief Rahul Gandhi and his sister and party General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.
Chidambaram was arrested on August 21 by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in connection with a probe into granting the Foreign Exchange Promotion Board (FIPB) approval to the INX Media, now known as 9X News, when he was Finance Minister.
He was sent to judicial custody on September 5. On October 16, while in judicial custody at Tihar Jail, he was arrested under sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) by the Enforcement Directorate (ED). Since October 17, Chidambaram was remanded to the ED custody till October 30.
While granting the bail, the apex court said even if the allegation was related grave economic offence, it was not a rule that bail should be denied in every case since there was no such bar created in the relevant enactment passed by the legislature nor did the bail jurisprudence provided so.
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