'Happy to step out of jail after 106 days': P Chidambaram to hold presser at 12.30 pm after receiving bail in INX Media case

Former Union minister and Congress leader P Chidambaram will address a press conference on Thursday at 12.30 pm, after getting a bail in the INX Media case. The former finance minister had on Wednesday said that he was happy to have stepped out of jail after 106 days. “I am happy that I have stepped out and breathing the air of freedom after 106 days,” said Chidambaram on Wednesday after meeting Congress president Sonia Gandhi at her residence. “I will address a press conference tomorrow. I am happy that the Supreme Court passed the order granting bail,” added Chidambaram.

P Chidambaram, Congress: I will address a press conference tomorrow. I am happy that I stepped out and breathing the air of freedom after 106 days. pic.twitter.com/1zAf0OJERl

— ANI (@ANI) December 4, 2019

The news comes even as the Supreme Court had barred Chidambaram from interacting with the media about the case. The court had also ordered him to furnish a bail bond of Rs 2 lakh plus two sureties of the same amount. The Congress veteran from Tamil Nadu was released from Tihar jail on Wednesday evening after the Supreme Court granted him bail in the INX Media case registered by the ED. The apex court set aside the Delhi High Court’s order which had refused to grant bail to Chidambaram and directed him not to tamper with evidence and influence witnesses in the case. Chidambaram had sought the bail in a case pertaining to the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) clearance given to INX Media to the tune of Rs 305 crore in 2007 during his tenure as the finance minister. The CBI had registered a corruption case in this regard in May 2017. Later that year, the ED also lodged a money laundering case against him. The Congress leader was first arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on 21 August this year in the INX Media corruption case but was granted bail by the Supreme Court two months later. He was arrested by the ED in the money laundering case on 16 October. With inputs from ANI