Officers scale wall to enter ex-Finance Minister’s residence
NEW DELHI: Congress leader and former Union home and finance Minister P Chidambaram was on Wednesday night arrested by the CBI amid high drama at his posh Jor Bagh residence where some officers scaled walls to gain entry, hours after he failed to get any immediate reprieve in the INX media case from the Supreme Court.
“Mr P Chidambaram has been arrested in connection with INX media case,” a senior official of the agency said. A CBI spokesperson said he has been arrested on the basis of a warrant issued by a competent court.
With the apex court deciding to hear only on Friday Chidambaram’s petition seeking a stay on the Delhi High Court order on Tuesday that dismissed his anticipatory bail plea, the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate(ED) got a free hand to arrest the former union minister. The CBI and the ED earlier issued a Look Out Circular (LOC) to prevent any attempt by him to leave the country.
After his arrest at his residence, Chidambaram was taken to Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital where a medical examination was done, sources said. He has been kept at the CBI Guest House,
they said. He will be produced before a special CBI court on Thursday, where the agency will seek his remand.
The CBI which was looking for 73-year old Chidambaram since Tuesday after his anticipatory bail application was rejected by the Delhi High Court managed to get a whiff of his location only when he appeared on camera at the Congress headquarters in the evening to make a press statement.
Rejecting reports of his evading the law, he told reporters that the charges against him and his son were “nothing further from truth”.
The sleuths rushed to the party office, but by the time they reached, Chidambaram had already left for his residence in Jorbagh, a 10-minute distance from the party office, in a luxury sedan accompanied by his lawyers and party colleagues — Kapil Sibal and Abhishek Manu Singhvi.
Leaving no stones unturned to avoid an embarrassing situation of Tuesday when the agency failed to locate him at his bungalow, the CBI team made a strong presence on Wednesday with about two dozen officers swarming the place. With a big media contingent beaming live images of the developments, the CBI team first knocked the gates to gain entry but finding no response, they nimbly scaled the nearly five-ft high walls to gain entry. Once three officers reached inside, they opened the gates to allow entry to other team members waiting outside.
Soon, a team of officers, identifying themselves as from ED, too arrived at the scene. A team of about two dozen officials remained on guard at the bungalow when Chidambaram was inside with Sibal and Singhvi. After completing arrest formalities, the CBI team had to wade through Congress supporters who had gathered outside raising slogans against the agency. Some supporters jumped on the white car in which Chidambaram was being taken to the agency headquarters. Delhi Police personnel were also posted to prevent any adverse law and order situation.
The agency had been seeking Chidambaram’s “custodial interrogation” in the case pertaining to alleged irregularities in the grant of foreign investment clearances to INX Media when he was the finance minister. They said Chidambaram was summoned last year for questioning in the case but he remained evasive in his responses.
The Delhi High Court on Tuesday refused to grant P Chidambaram any protection from arrest by rejecting his plea seeking anticipatory bail. Swinging into action after the high court order, a team of CBI officers had landed at the Jor Bagh residence here to locate him but he was not present. The agency officials returned after pasting a notice at his residence on Tuesday night asking him to be present before the investigation officer of the case within two hours. Chidambaram did not appear before them.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court has listed Chidambaram’s petition on Friday without giving him any interim relief in the matter. The CBI had registered an FIR on May 15, 2017, alleging irregularities in the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) clearance granted to the INX media group for receiving overseas funds of Rs 305 crore in 2007 during Chidambaram’s tenure as finance minister. Thereafter, the ED lodged a money laundering case in this regard in 2018. (PTI)