Chidambaram moves interim bail plea in court, says he has goodwill in society and no flight risk

Chidambaram, who was sent to one more day of CBI custody, said he has always cooperated with the investigation and will continue to do so in the future as and when called upon by the investigating agency.

"The applicant is a 73/74 years old man and has reputation and goodwill in the society and there is no likelihood of him absconding or fleeing from justice. The applicant is a senior advocate practising in the Supreme Court," Chidambaram said in his bail plea.

The plea said that currently he is a Member of Parliament (Rajya Sabha) and was formerly Union minister of finance (1996-1998, 2004-2008 and 2012-2014) and minister of home affairs (2008-2012).

"He is a member of the Indian National Congress, which is the principal Opposition party in Parliament. The applicant is also a senior spokesperson of the Congress party as well as a prominent and widely-read columnist. As such, it is submitted that the applicant has clean antecedents and deep roots in the society," it said.

Chidambaram further said that the Non Bailable Warrants (NBWs) against him on September 21 and his subsequent arrest was without jurisdiction and based on "material suppression" of facts and documents.

"The applicant does not have the propensity to evade the process of law, the applicant has throughout been available during the period of investigation and that the applicant has cooperated in every manner possible with the investigating agency.

"There is not even any allegation that the applicant has or will tamper with the evidence or influence witnesses," Chidambaram said, adding that even the CBI had told the Delhi High Court that he is not a flight risk, likely to tamper with evidence or influence witnesses.

He claimed that the material collected in the INX media case during the investigation is documentary in nature and largely files of the Ministry of Finance, which are currently in the safe and secure possession of the incumbent government or this court and there is no threat of tampering.

"In the subject FIR, all the other accused persons have already been enlarged on regular bail or anticipatory bail or statutory bail. None of the officials of Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) have been arrested or even sought to be arrested by the CBI.

"The investigation in the captioned FIR qua the applicant herein is already over in as much as the CBI had applied for sanction of prosecution of the Applicant herein, along with which it is mandatorily required to furnish a copy of the draft charge sheet for the consideration of the sanctioning authority," he said.

The Congress leader said the CBI has carried out his custodial interrogation for the past 12 days and there can be no cause of seeking a further police custody as the investigation qua him has admittedly come to an end.

He also contended that the offences alleged to have been committed by him were only punishable with a maximum punishment of seven years at the relevant time and hence, the agency should have issued a notice as per law.