Chidambaram sent to Tihar

New Delhi: The CBI special court on Thursday sent former Union minister P Chidambaram to judicial custody till September 19 in the money-laundering and corruption case related to the INX Media scam.

He was produced in the court on Thursday after 14 days of CBI custody. The CBI had moved an application for judicial custody of Chidambaram.

Senior advocate Kapil Sibal opposed the demand for judicial custody. He said there was no scope of tampering with the evidence. He even said he was willing to surrender and stay in the ED custody.

Meanwhile, Prisons DG Sandeep Goel said, "He (Chidambaram) will be lodged in Jail number 7.

Facilities will be given as per the court order." Jail 7 is meant for economic offenders. Another senior Delhi police official said Chidambaram will be treated like any other inmate in Tihar.

Earlier in the day, the Supreme Court had rejected the senior Congress leader's anticipatory bail in the INX Media money-laundering case filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).

The apex court bench, headed by justices R Banumathi and comprising justice A S Bopanna, agreed with the ED's plea that Chidambaram should be sent for custodial interrogation.

Chidambaram had filed a petition against the Delhi High Court order rejecting his anticipatory bail on August 20. The bench also upheld that the case diary of the CBI and the ED should be perused by the court.

This was allowed since the case related to economic offences and the gravity of the offence pushed the court to approach it differently.

The CBI, on May 15, 2017, registered an FIR against Chidambaram for alleged irregularities in the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) clearance provided to INX Media for receiving overseas funds to the tune of 305 crore in 2007 when he was the finance minister.

The money-laundering cases lodged by the ED in this regard date back to 2018. Chidambaram was arrested on August 21.