P Chidambaram submitted before court that he does not have the propensity to evade the law
Former Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram on Wednesday moved a bail petition in the INX Media case asserting that all the other accused in the matter have been granted bail.
The ED, which is probing the money laundering charges against the former union minister, had arrested him on October 16, following which a special court remanded him to ED custody till October 24.
"All other accused have been enlarged on bail. The petitioner has deep roots in the society and has been in the public life for 40 years," the bail plea stated, adding that the arrest was malafide and done with an intention to harm his reputation.
Mr Chidambaram submitted that he does not have the propensity to evade the law. "The petitioner has throughout been available during the period of the investigation. Investigation agency did not recover or elicit any incriminating evidence from the possession of P Chidambaram during the searches," it stated.
The petition will be taken up for hearing by the court tomorrow.
The Supreme Court granted him bail yesterday in the corruption matter which is being probed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
P Chidambaram was arrested on August 21 by the CBI in a graft case after which the court initially remanded him to its custody and was later sent to Tihar jail.
The agency has recently filed a charge-sheet against him and others, including his son Karti Chidambaram and a handful of bureaucrats, for causing loss to the exchequer by allegedly committing offenses under the Prevention of Corruption (PC) Act and the Indian Penal Code.
The CBI had registered an FIR on May 15, 2017, alleging irregularities in a Foreign Investment Promotion Board clearance granted to the INX Media group for receiving overseas funds of Rs 305 crore in 2007, during Mr Chidambaram's tenure as the finance minister.
Thereafter, the ED lodged a money laundering case in this regard in 2017.