After 105 days in custody, SC grants bail to Chidambaram in INX media case

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday granted bail to former finance minister and Congress leader P Chidambaram in INX Media money laundering case, registered by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).

Granting bail to former finance minister, the top court said P Chidambaram should not tamper with the evidence and not influence the witnesses. The court ordered that he should not give press interviews or make public statements in connection with this case.

The court directed P Chidambaram to furnish a bail bond of Rs 2 lakhs along with 2 sureties of the same amount and said he could not travel abroad without the Court's permission.

The case was heard by a bench of justices R Banumathi, AS Bopanna and Hrishikesh Roy. Chidambaram has been in custody for 105 days since his dramatic arrest televised live by a team of Central Bureau of Investigation officers late on August 21.

Chidambaram was first arrested by the CBI on August 21 in the INX Media corruption case and was granted bail by the top court on October 22. The ED had arrested him on October 16 in the money laundering case.

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The CBI was investigating Chidambaram in a case relating to alleged irregularities in Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) clearance granted to the INX Media group for receiving overseas funds of Rs. 305 crore in 2007, during his tenure as the finance minister.