In an unprecedented drama at his Delhi residence, Congress leader and former finance minister P Chidambaram was arrested by the CBI late on Wednesday.
His arrest came as officials of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) scaled the walls of his Jor Bagh residence in Delhi, minutes after his press conference at the party headquarters where Chidambaram said he was “not hiding from the law but seeking protection of the law”.
After the press conference, as soon as Chidambaram returned to his house, officials of the Central Bureau of Investigation and the Enforcement Directorate were present at his house, a 10-minute drive away from Akbar Road, only to find the gate locked. CBI officers then jumped over the boundary wall while another team of agency officials entered the house from the back door.
Delhi Police personnel blocked access to Chidambaram’s house, even as milling media persons tried to get a better view of the happenings inside.
Later, a CBI team arrived in a car to take the senior Congress leader into custody.
The entire operation was swiftly executed within half an hour of his arrival in Jor Bagh.
Once inside, the CBI team completed the formalities of Chidambaram’s arrest in the presence of his team of lawyers.
Chidambaram was driven to the CBI headquarters in a white car, with him seated in the middle and CBI personnel on either side.
Meanwhile, formal questioning of Chidambaram started from 10 am by the investigation team led by Parthasarathy, Deputy SP.
After questioning, the Congress leader will be produced at Special CBI Court, Rouse Avenue post 12 noon.
Hours after going missing, the Congress leader surfaced at the Congress headquarters after his petition challenging the Delhi High Court rejection of anticipatory bail was not listed in the Supreme Court on Wednesday.
On Wednesday morning, a Supreme Court bench, headed by Justice NV Ramana refused to grant interim relief from arrest to Chidambaram and referred his plea for an anticipatory bail in the INX media case to Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi for urgent hearing.
The ED and the CBI are probing how his son Karti Chidambaram got clearance from the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) in 2007 when Chidambaram was the Finance Minister.
Chidambaram has denied the allegations, saying the case is politically motivated.
While the CBI is investigating alleged irregularities in the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) clearance granted to INX Media for receiving overseas funds to the tune of Rs 305 crore in 2007 when P Chidambaram was the Finance Minister, the ED is probing the money laundering angle.
It is alleged that his son Karti Chidambaram illegally took service charges for getting the FIPB clearance to the INX Media for receiving funds from abroad.
ED probe revealed financial linkage of Karti and his father with INX Media and Maxis group despite the “contradictory and evasive” responses of various people questioned in connection with the 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.
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.