Chidambaram

court on September 30, has ordered that the former home and finance minister should produce a bail bond of ~1 lakh and two sureties. He will also have to deposit his passport with a special court if not already done so far.

The top court’s ruling on his appeal sets aside the high court verdict that had taken a view that as a former minister, Chidambaram could influence witnesses in the case.

“The same cannot, in our view, be put in a straight-jacket formula so as to deny bail to the one who is before the court, due to the conduct of other offenders, if the person under consideration is otherwise entitled to bail on the merits of his own case,” the bench said.

“Hence, in our view, such consideration including as to ‘flight risk’ is to be made on individual basis being uninfluenced by the unconnected cases, more so, when the personal liberty is involved,” the top court said.

While opposing Chidambaram’s bail plea in the apex court, solicitor general Tushar Mehta, appearing for the CBI, had argued that the high court had erred in saying that the Congress leader was not a ‘flight risk’ as country is facing a problem where persons accused in financial frauds and economic offences are fleeing India.

“We are not comparing anyone with this individual (Chidambaram) but one of them was even a Member of Parliament,” Mehta had argued, in an apparent reference to Mallya, who owed over ~9,000 crore to banks and fled India in 2016.

In its 27-page judgment granting bail to Chidambaram, the apex court said he is neither a “flight risk” nor is there a possibility of “his abscondence from the trial”.

The case relates to irregularities in the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) clearance given to the INX Media group for receiving ~305 crore overseas funds. Chidambaram was the finance minister at that time.

The CBI chargesheet has alleged that P Chidambaram had met INX Media co-founders Indrani Mukerjea and Pratim (Peter) Mukerjea at his office at North Block sometime in April/ May 2007. At t his meeting, according to the CBI, the senior Congress leader asked them to pay “illegal gratification in the form of overseas pay-offs... [and] demanded that business interest(s) of his son should be taken care of”. Chidambaram has rebutted the charge, insisting that this meeting hadn’t taken place.

Chidambaram was arrested by the CBI on August 21 in the corruption case which was registered on May 15, 2017.

Later, t he Enforcement Directorate also lodged a money laundering case in 2017.