INX Media Case: Karti Chidambaram spoke to reporters outside Tihar Jail.
Former Union Minister P Chidambaram, who is in Tihar jail in Delhi since September 5 in INX media case, is in "great spirits", his son Karti said today after visiting him this morning at the jail. The 74-year-old Congress leader was arrested by a three-member team of the Enforcement Directorate today after he was questioned for nearly an hour at Delhi's Tihar Jail in the money-laundering case.
"I came to meet my father as part of my weekly visit. He is in good spirits. Whatever these procedural games are being played are for political theatrics. This is a bogus investigation," Karti Chidambaram told reporters outside the jail. His mother Nalini also accompanied him for the visit.
"I have always maintained that this (INX media case) is nothing but a case of politically vendetta to continue to keep a former finance minister and former home minister in some sort of custody for alleged transactions which apparently happened in 2006. It's a charade by itself," the Congress MP from Tamil Nadu's Sivaganga said.
"This whole thing is being played out for the vicarious pleasure of a few and for voyeuristic television audience," the 47-year-old leader added.
Mr Chidambaram's son further claimed that he has been summoned in the INX media case "15-20 times". "The Enforcement Directorate has summoned by 15-20 times... I have lost count. This is a meaningless exercise," he said.
Mr Chidamabaram was arrested this morning by the Enforcement Directorate, a day after a special court in Delhi agreed to the agency's request for his custodial interrogation. The probe agency moved the CBI court seeking Mr Chidambaram's custody and application will be heard tomorrow.
Arrested by the CBI on August 21, Mr Chidambaram has been in judicial custody since September 5 in the INX Media corruption case filed by the CBI. He is accused of signing off on a huge infusion of foreign funds into the firm as the finance minister in the UPA government led by Manmohan Singh in 2007 at the behest of his son Karti Chidambaram. The CBI has accused Karti Chidambaram of receiving kickbacks in the matter.