Former Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram's his legal team, led by advocate and senior Congress leader Kapil Sibal, on Wednesday, filed a special leave petition in Supreme Court, seeking interim relief after the Delhi High Court denied his anticipatory bail plea in the INX Media case.
"None of the three grounds to deny bail were made out (by the HC): there is no allegation that the petitioner is likely to flee justice; or that the petitioner is likely to influence the witnesses; or that the petitioner is likely to tamper with the evidence," said the petition filed by Chidambaram.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) argued against the interim relief and said it was a "monumental magnitude of money laundering case".
Justice Ramana said that the file will be sent to the Chief Justice of India (CJI). "We can't pass the order right away," he said.
On May 15, 2017, the Central CBI registered an FIR in the INX Media scam alleging irregularities in the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) clearance granted to INX for receiving overseas funds of Rs 305 crore.
Chidambaram continued to remain missing after the Delhi HC's order. The CBI late on Tuesday night pasted a notice on his gate asking him to appear before the investigation officer "within two hours". The CBI and ED teams have reportedly visited his Jor Bagh residence.
A lookout circular was also issued against the former finance minister on Wednesday. His lawyer said the lookout notice is a from political vendetta because the former Minister "is not a flight risk".
Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra came out in his support. She took to Twitter to say, "An extremely qualified and respected member of the Rajya Sabha @PChidambaram_IN ji has served our nation with loyalty for decades including as Finance Minister & Home Minister."
"He unhesitatingly speaks truth to power and exposes the failures of this government, but the truth is inconvenient to cowards so he is being shamefully hunted down. We stand by him and will continue to fight for the truth no matter what the consequences are," she added.
Senior lawyer and Congress leader Salman Khurshid also called the CBI action "extremely unfair".
