The Delhi High Court on Wednesday granted interim protection from arrest to former Union minister P Chidambaram till August 1 in the INX Media case filed by the Enforcement Directorate, PTI reported.
Chidambaram had moved an anticipatory bail petition in the High Court on Monday. The petition said that although the ED had not issued summons to Chidambaram in this case, he had an apprehension of arrest because of summons from the Central Bureau of Investigation. “It cannot be ruled out that the ED may summon him and/or illegally arrest him even without issuing summons,” the plea said.
Chidambaram fears arrest because of the circumstances under which the ED earlier arrested a chartered accountant and the CBI arrested his son Karti Chidambaram in the case, the plea said.
In the CBI’s case against Chidambaram, the Delhi High Court had already extended the interim protection from arrest till August 1. The agency had sought more time from the court to file a response to Chidambaram’s anticipatory bail petition.
In May 2017, the Enforcement Directorate filed a money laundering case against the former finance minister’s son Karti Chidambaram, INX Media and its directors Indrani Mukerjea and Peter Mukerjea. The agency accused Karti Chidambaram’s company of receiving a bribe of Rs 10 lakh to help INX Media escape punitive action for taking Rs 305 crore in foreign funding in 2007 despite having clearance from the Foreign Exchange Promotion Board for only Rs 4 crore. P Chidambaram was finance minister at the time.
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