Special court to pronounce order on bail of six bureaucrats in INX media case today; all accused are currently on interim bail

New Delhi: A special court on Tuesday reserved its order on regular bail of all the six bureaucrats and will pronounce order on 19 February in the INX Media corruption case. The bail application was moved by six bureaucrats who were part of the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) panel which granted approval to INX Media, in the case involving former Union Minister P Chidambaram. [caption id=“attachment_7989351” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File image of Senior Congress leader and former finance minister P Chidambaram. PTI[/caption] All these bureaucrats are currently on interim bail. The court also directed the CBI to hand over the copy of certain deficient documents to all the accused in the INX Media case, including former Union Minister P Chidambaram and his son Karti. These documents were filed along with the charge sheet by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). All the bureaucrats who were charge-sheeted are currently on interim bail. Earlier, in its reply, the CBI opposed the regular bail petition of the bureaucrats. Last month, the court had extended the interim bail of six bureaucrats in the INX Media case till 18 February. The interim bail of six bureaucrats, who were part of the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB), which granted approval to INX Media during Chidambaram’s tenure, was extended by the court. The bureaucrats include Ajeet Kumar Dungdung, the then Section Officer; Rabindra Prasad, the then Under Secretary; Prabodh Saxena, Director, FIPB unit of Finance Ministry; Pradeep Kumar Bagga, the then Officer on Special Duty; Anup K Pujari, the then Joint Secretary, and Sindhushree Khullar, Additional Secretary in the Department of Economic Affairs. The agency’s reply came on a notice served to it by the court on 29 November on the bail petition moved by them. The interim bail is a temporary bail for a period in which the court can ask for documents to be presented which are required to make a final decision on the bail application. Subsequently, the court can grant permanent bail, extend interim bail or reject bail application altogether. Chidambaram, who is the main accused in the case, is out on regular bail in the case. The case pertains to FIPB clearance given to Karti’s INX Media to the tune of Rs 305 crore when his father was the finance minister. The economic offences watchdog had registered a PMLA (Prevention of Money Laundering Act) case based on an FIR by the CBI and alleged that irregularities took place in the FIPB clearance to INX Media.