P Chidambaram's plea to surrender dismissed by court

New Delhi : In a setback to former finance minister P Chidambaram, a Delhi Court on Friday dismissed his plea to surrender in the money laundering case arising out of the INX Media scam, saying it was the "exclusive right" of the Enforcement Directorate to decide when to arrest a person.

The court said since the ED, an investigating wing under the Ministry of Finance, was not inclined to arrest the 73-year-old Congress leader, "his surrender application will not ipso facto be accepted".

Chidambaram is already in Tihar Jail in connection with the corruption case lodged by the CBI in the INX Media scam.

The CBI had registered an FIR on May 15, 2017 alleging irregularities in the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) clearance granted to the INX Media group for receiving overseas funds of Rs 305 crore in 2007 during Chidambaram's tenure as the finance minister.

Thereafter, the Enforcement Directorate had lodged a money laundering case in this regard in 2017.

Special Judge Ajay Kumar Kuhar said the court cannot interfere in the decision of the ED, which has preferred not to arrest him at the moment and also there was no process issued against him by the court.