Chidambaram likely to celebrate 74th B’day in Tihar

Senior Congress leader P. Chidambaram (File Photo/IANS)

Senior Congress leader P. Chidambaram (File Photo/IANS)

New Delhi: Former Finance Minister P. Chidambaram, who has failed to get relief despite trying every legal remedy to end his Tihar Jail stay, now seems set to celebrate his 74th birthday on Monday inside the prison.

The former Union Minister, born in 1945 in Kanadukathan in Sivaganga district of Tamil Nadu, is in judicial custody till September 19 in the INX Media corruption case that the Central Bureau of Investigation is probing .

His bail plea is pending in the Delhi High Court that will take it up for hearing on September 23.

On September 5, a court sent the former Minister to 14 days judicial custody in the INX Media case. He was arrested late on August 21 following dramatic developments.

On September 13, a Delhi court turned down his surrender application in the INX money launder case being probed by Enforcement Directorate (ED) saying that if investigators don’t want to arrest, surrender application can’t be entertained.

The CBI had registered an FIR on May 15, 2017, alleging irregularities in the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) clearance granted to the INX Media group for receiving Rs 305 crore overseas funds in 2007 during Chidambaram’s tenure as the Finance Minister.

The ED too filed a money laundering case against the former Finance Minister in this regard in 2017.

Published on: Sep 15, 2019 at 17:16 IST

IANS