INX Media case: Delhi HC denies bail to P Chidambaram

The Delhi High Court on Friday rejected bail plea by former Union minister P Chidambaram in the INX Media money laundering case, saying the charges against him were serious in nature and he played a key and active role in the scam.

Pronouncing the order, Justice Suresh Kait said that prima facie allegations are serious in nature and the entire community would be aggrieved if such offenders were not booked.

Maintaining that granting relief to such offenders would send a wrong message, the court said it was not inclined to give any relief to him

The court had reserved the order on November 8 on the bail petition after hearing the arguments of counsels for Chidambaram and the Enforcement Directorate (ED).

In his plea, senior Congress leader said that since the evidence was documentary and in the custody of probe agencies, he cannot tamper them.

Opposing the bail, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the ED, had contended that the PMLA case is more stringent. "It is the gravest of grave offence as it is an economic offence which is a standalone offence," he had argued.

Chidambaram is lodged in Tihar Jail under judicial custody in the ED's money-laundering case.

He was arrested on August 21 in connection with the graft case registered by the CBI in May, 2017 in connection with the irregularities in foreign investment to the INX media group in 2007.

Though the Supreme Court granted him bail on October 22, he could not walk out of prison since he was arrested on October 16 by the ED in a separate money laundering case.