INX Media: Judicial custody of P Chidambaram in ED case extended till November 27 in ED case

The Special CBI Court at Rouse Avenue Court Complex today extended the judicial custody of P Chidambaram in the INX Media money laundering case till November 27..P Chidambaram was produced before CBI Judge Ajay Kumar Kuhar through video conferencing, after the expiry of his judicial custody..The Enforcement Directorate (ED) had sought an extension of P Chidambaram’s judicial custody for another 14 days..Chidambaram’s bail plea is currently pending before the Delhi High Court..The INX Media case pertains to the alleged irregularities in the Foreign Investment Promotion Board clearance to INX Media at the time when P Chidambaram was the Finance Minister. It is the case of the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) that P Chidambaram and his son Karti had received illegal gratification from INX Media owners Peter and Indrani Mukherjea for the clearance..The CBI had arrested P Chidambaram on August 21 after his anticipatory bail plea in the case was rejected by the High Court..Chidambaram, who spent a fortnight in police custody after his arrest, was thereafter remanded to judicial custody. His plea for regular bail was rejected by the Special CBI Judge sitting at the Rouse Avenue Court Complex in Delhi. Later, bail was denied by the Delhi High Court as well..Chidambaram was arrested by the ED on October 16 and subsequently sent to custody..He was granted regular bail in the CBI case by the Supreme Court earlier this month. The agency had subsequently filed a review petition before the Supreme Court against the order granting bail to Chidambaram in the CBI case..Earlier this month, the ED had argued that grant of bail to Chidambaram would be against the “Zero Tolerance Policy in Corruption” and would also set a wrong precedent..In response, the former Union Minister claimed that his arrest was malafide and done with the intention to harm his reputation. Thus, he has argued that he should be enlarged on bail as there is no incriminating evidence against him.