The Delhi High Court on Tuesday rejected the anticipatory bail plea of former Finance Minister P. Chidambaram in the INX Media case.
On January 25, the Delhi High Court had reserved its order on Chidambaram's bail plea in the case being probed by the Enforcement Directorate and the CBI. P Chidambaram has now moved Supreme Court challenging the Delhi High Court order, rejecting both his anticipatory bail pleas in connection with INX Media case. Senior lawyer Kapil Sibal, representing him has sought an urgent listing of his matter. The matter is still pending.
Chidambaram is on interim protection from arrest granted by the Delhi High Court. The ED and the CBI are probing how his son Karti Chidambaram managed to get clearance from the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) in 2007 when his father was the Finance Minister. On March 11, the High Court allowed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to file additional documents on record to support its case against Chidambaram in the case. The investigating agencies had opposed Chidambaram's bail plea, saying that custodial interrogation of the former Finance Minister was necessary as he was evasive and had given false information during his questioning.
In 2007, INX Media had allegedly applied for clearance with the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) on March 15. The company had sought this approval in order to operate and broadcast a bouquet of channels. According to the CBI, the FIPB in its meeting on 18 March, 2007 approved an FDI inflow of Rs 4.62 crore against INX Media. It did not, however, approve the downstream investment by INX Media in INX News.
As per the CBI’s FIR, “INX Media (P) Limited deliberately and in violation of the conditions of the approval (i) made a downstream investment to the extent of 26% in the capital of INX News (P) Limited without the specific approval of FIPB which included indirect foreign investment by the same foreign investors and (ii) generated more than Rs 305 crores Foreign Direct Investment in INX Media (P) Limited against the approved foreign inflow of Rs 4.62 crores…” Karti Chidambaram was arrested on February 28, 2018 by the CBI for allegedly accepting money to facilitate the FIPB clearance to INX Media. He was later granted bail. His chartered accountant S Bhaskararaman was also arrested and released on bail later.
(With inputs from IANS)