New Delhi: There has been no relief for former Finance Minister P Chidambaram as SC to will hear his pre-arrest bail plea on Friday.
Meanwhile, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday filed caveats in the Supreme Court over Congress leader P Chidambaram’s plea seeking protection from arrest in the INX media case.
With the caveat being filed, the apex court cannot pass any order on the former finance minister’s plea without hearing the probe agencies.
Earlier on Wednesday, Chidambaram was unable to get immediate relief after a three-judge bench of the top court sent the file of Chidambaram’s Special Leave Petition (SLP) seeking pre-arrest bail to Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi for passing an order on the listing of the case.
CJI Gogoi, however, had commenced hearing in the Ayodhya dispute case due to which Chidambaram’s counsel Sibal was unable to mention the matter before him for urgent hearing.
Meanwhile, the Enforcement Directorate has issued a lookout notice against Chidambaram who has remained away as a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) team arrived at his home in Delhi on Tuesday morning.
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CBI officials on Tuesday evening visited Chidambaram at his residence to serve summons after the high court rejected the former Finance Minister’s request for protection from arrest.
Chidambaram faces arrest in the “INX Media case”, in which he is accused of facilitating foreign investment in a media company as Finance Minister in the Congress-led UPA government at the instance of his son Karti, who allegedly received kickbacks for his role.
On Tuesday, the Delhi High Court rejected Chidambaram’s request for anticipatory bail, saying “prima facie”, the facts of the case revealed that the “petitioner is the kingpin or key conspirator in the case”.
Meanwhile, Congress has accused the government of hounding its top leaders for political vendetta.
“An extremely qualified and respected member of the Rajya Sabha, @PChidambaram_IN ji has served our nation with loyalty for decades including as Finance Minister and Home Minister. He unhesitatingly speaks truth to power and exposes the failures of this government, but the truth is inconvenient to cowards so he is being shamefully hunted down. We stand by him and will continue to fight for the truth no matter what the consequences are,” Priyanka Gandhi Vadra tweeted.
An extremely qualified and respected member of the Rajya Sabha, @PChidambaram_IN ji has served our nation with loyalty for decades including as Finance Minister & Home Minister. He unhesitatingly speaks truth to power and exposes the failures of this government,
1/2— Priyanka Gandhi Vadra (@priyankagandhi) August 21, 2019