After a day-long chasing and drama intact, former Finance Minister and senior Congress leader, P Chidambaram, was finally arrested at his Jor Bagh residence in New Delhi on Wednesday night. P Chidambaram was reportedly missing since Tuesday afternoon after Delhi High Court ended his interim bail in the INX FDI case.
However, Chidambaram had arrived at Congress headquarters on Wednesday evening – after addressing a press conference at Congress headquarters – claiming he had been planning his legal defence. Chidambaram added that he is ready to face the law as he has always been. Addressing press, he said he has “not been accused of any offence”.
[Also Read: Everything You Need To Know About INX Media Scam Case]
At the press meet, Chidambaram was heard saying that all he wanted was a fair hearing. “I was aghast that I was accused of hiding from the law. On contrary, I was engaged in pursuit of justice. Now I shall walk with clear conscience and head held high. In the name of freedom, I can only hope and pray that investigative agencies will respect the law,” he added.
The Arrest
After completing the press conference, drama unfolded, when Chidambaram reached his house where two teams of CBI climbed his wall to break into his residence and arrest him. The developments came after CBI had visited Chidambaram’s house on Tuesday hours after Delhi high court rejected his bail plea. However, Chidambaram was nowhere to be found in his residence which prompted ED to issue a lookout circular which stopped him from leaving the country.
Moreover, earlier in the day, the Supreme Court refused an urgent hearing of Chidambaram’s bail plea, referring it to Chief Justice of India, Ranjan Gogoi. CJI Gogoi agreed to hear the matter on Friday when his lawyers Kapil Sibal and Salman Khurshid requested for the same. The idea was to allow a lengthier question-answer session with CBI and ED.
To add, Congrees ministers including Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and her brother Rahul Gandhi came out in support of Chidambaram. Rahul even didn’t shy away from accusing BJP of panning the plot against Chidambaram.
