Chidambaram to break his silence on Thursday noon

New Delhi: Former Finance Minister and senior Congress leader P. Chidambaram after his release on Wednesday evening (8 p.m.) from the Tihar jail after 106 days of “pre-trail incarceration”, following the grant of bail by the Supreme Court, will address the media at the Congress headquarters, here, after the noon on Thursday.

He is also likely to attend Parliament on Thursday.

Soon after stepping out of the jail, received by his son and Lok Sabha member Karti Chidambaram and welcomed by slogan-shouting party workers, Chidambaram told the waiting media, “In the 106 days of pre-trail incarceration not a single charge was framed against me.”

“I will speak all about that tomorrow (Thursday),” he said before getting into the waiting vehicle that drove straight to party interim chief Sonia Gandhi’s residence at 10, Jan Path.

After an around 20-minute meeting, he left for his Jor Bagh house, the same residence from where he was arrested more than three months back, and had a 30-minute meeting with Gandhi’s close confidante Ahmed Patel.

Chidambaram came out of the Tihar jail after the jail authorities received the court orders. He was received by Karti Chidambaram outside the jail premises as hundreds of Congress activists welcomed the former Finance Minister and raised slogans in his favour.

Earlier, showing his reluctance to speak to the media outside the jail, Chidambaram said, “I can’t comment on the case. I am going to obey the Supreme Court order.”

Meanwhile, Several Congress workers had gathered outside his residence to welcome him. Some Congress activists were also spotted playing guitar and singing ‘Nyay do, nyay do’ (Deliver justice) outside his residence.

While in jail, Chidambaram was visited by the top Congress brass, including Sonia Gandhi and former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, former party chief Rahul Gandhi and his sister and party General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.

Chidambaram was arrested on August 21 by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in connection with a probe into granting of the Foreign Exchange Promotion Board (FIPB) approval to the INX Media, now known as 9X News, when he was Finance Minister.

He was sent to the judicial custody on September 5. On October 16, while in judicial custody at Tihar Jail, he was arrested under sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) by the Enforcement Directorate (ED). Since October 17, Chidambaram was remanded to the ED custody till October 30.

While granting the bail, the apex court said even if the allegation was related grave economic offence, it was not a rule that bail should be denied in every case since there was no such bar created in the relevant enactment passed by the legislature nor did the bail jurisprudence provided so.

Now, all eyes on Thursday afternoon when Chidambaram meets the media after spending 106 days in jail, to break his silence.

Published on: Dec 4, 2019 at 23:40 IST

IANS