Former Finance Minister P Chidambaram was produced before the CBI court in Delhi’s Rouse Avenue after nearly three hours of continuous grilling by the officials at the probe agency headquarters in connection with the INX Media case.
The Congress leader was arrested on Wednesday night by CBI officials as a dramatic sequence of events unfolded outside his residence in Jor Bagh.
Chidambaram’s wife Nalini and son Karti were already present at the court when Chidambaram arrived for the hearing.
The senior Congress leader was arrested by the CBI as the agency officials 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”.
Later, a CBI team arrived in a car to take the senior Congress leader into custody.
Chidamabaram spent the night at the CBI headquarters.
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.
Both Chidambaram and his son have denied the allegations.
Chidambaram and his son were named by Peter and Indrani Mukerjea, who owned INX Media at the time and are currently in jail in connection with the murder of Indrani Mukerjea’s daughter Sheena Bora.
Meanwhile, heavy security was deployed outside the CBI office where Chidambaram was lodged for the day. Water cannons were also deployed outside the office.