A court in Delhi on Wednesday granted bail to three bureaucrats who worked with former Union minister P Chidambaram in connection with the INX Media case filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation, PTI reported.
The case concerns the grant of Foreign Investment Promotion Board approval to INX Media in 2007-’08 during Chidambaram’s tenure as the finance minister. The bureaucrats were part of the board.
Special Judge Ajay Kumar Kuhar granted bail to former NITI Aayog Chief Executive Officer Sindhushree Khullar, former Officer on Special Duty to finance minister Pradeep Kumar Bagga and former Foreign Investment Promotion Board Director Prabodh Saxena.
The court granted them bail on a surety of Rs 2 lakh each and directed the bureaucrats to not leave the country without its permission. They were also asked to not tamper with any evidence in the case.
In December, the Supreme Court granted Chidambaram bail in the case the Enforcement Directorate had filed, after he had spent 74 days in jail.
The bureaucrats have been charged under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, including criminal conspiracy, cheating, forgery and for taking gratification and criminal misconduct of the Prevention of Corruption Act.
Last year, 71 former bureaucrats, including former Foreign Secretary and National Security Adviser Shivshankar Menon, wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, protesting against the government’s decision to grant the Central Bureau of Investigation sanction to prosecute them.
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