After spending 105 days in Tihar jail, the apex court on Wednesday granted Chidambaram bail in the INX Media money laundering case, registered by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).
P Chidambaram at Rouse Avenue court complex in New Delhi. (File Photo: IANS)
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday hit out at the Congress shortly after the Supreme Court granted bail to former Finance Minister P Chidambaram in the INX Media case, terming it a “classic case of celebrating corruption”.
Reacting to the news of the Congress leader being granted bail, BJP National spokesperson Sambit Patra took to Twitter to say that Chidambaram too has finally managed to join “coveted Out On Bail Club”.
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In his post, the BJP leader mentioned Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Shashi Tharoor and a few others, who are also out on bail in connection with other cases.
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“So finally Chidambaram too joins the long list of ‘OOBC (Out On Bail Club)’ in the Congress. He joins the coveted Club, some members of which are: 1) Sonia Gandhi 2) Rahul Gandhi 3) Robert Vadra 4) Motilal Vohra 5) Bhupinder Hooda 6) S(h)ashi Tharoor Etc Etc,” Sambit Patra said on Twitter.
After spending 105 days in Tihar jail, the apex court on Wednesday granted Chidambaram bail in the INX Media money laundering case, registered by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).
Granting him bail, the top court said that Chidambaram should not tamper with the evidence and not influence the witnesses. The court further ordered him not to give press interviews or make public statements in connection with the case.
The Supreme Court also directed P Chidambaram to furnish a bail bond of Rs 2 lakhs along with two sureties of the same amount. Chidambaram has also been ordered not to travel abroad without the court’s permission.
74-year-old Chidambaram was first arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on August 21 in the INX Media corruption case and was granted bail by the Supreme Court on October 22. His arrest came after the Delhi High Court rejected his pre-arrest bail. He was in between arrested by the ED in the money laundering case on October 16.
Several party leaders welcomed the order granting bail to Chidambaram, with his lawyer and Congress colleague Abhishek Manu Singhvi describing the ruling as “excellent light after a rather long tunnel”.
The Congress party tweeted: “Truth finally prevails”.
On this, Sambit Patra tweeted: “Classic case of @INCIndia ‘Celebrating Corruption’!!”
Classic case of @INCIndia “Celebrating Corruption”!! https://t.co/74E8xhkmRq
— Sambit Patra (@sambitswaraj) December 4, 2019
Congress veteran Chidambaram is under probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and ED over alleged irregularities in the FIPB clearance granted to INX Media for receiving overseas funds of Rs 305 crore in 2007 during his tenure as Union Finance Minister.
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