INX Media money-laundering: SC reserves order on P Chidambaram's bail plea

New Delhi: After almost four months of marathon court proceedings, former Finance Minister P Chidambaram's last attempt to argue for his bail ended on Thursday as the Supreme Court of India reserved its order on the veteran Congress leader's bail plea in the INX Media-related money-laundering case, being probed by the Enforcement Directorate.

On the last day of hearing, Solicitor-General Tushar Mehta made fresh allegations against Chidambaram on behalf of the ED and senior advocates Kapil Sibal and Abhishek Manu Singhvi submitted their final arguments for why those don't hold ground.

The 74-year-old Congress politician, however, was tied up in court proceedings even before his arrest by the CBI on the night of August 21, amid high drama. In fact, the battle began the moment the Delhi High Court lifted his protection from arrest in August this year, citing his "evasiveness" and the "gravity of the offence" he was accused of. However, when the Supreme Court Registry found an "error" in his application, the CBI took advantage of the window and got an arrest warrant, following which Chidambaram has been in custody for 100 days now.

However, the core arguments of both Chidambaram and CBI/ED have remained the same throughout the bail hearings.

The arguments

SG Mehta on Thursday argued before a bench of Justices R Banumathi, AS Bopanna and Hrishikesh Roy, reiterating that granting bail to someone holding public office and accused of economic offences, "which are a class apart" would send a wrong message to the public at large. The ED also told the court that they had found Chidambaram's links to at least 16 shell companies, through which the alleged proceeds of crime were laundered.

Further, the ED argued that the seriousness of the alleged crime, especially given that it was an economic offence, should be considered before the court makes its decision. Mehta also told the court that the ED's probe had now surpassed just one case of FIPB approval to INX Media and that other FIPB decisions during Chidambaram's time as FM are also being looked into.

But Sibal, who has appeared for his fellow party-man ever since the case went to the courts, argued that there is no reason for the court to deny his client bail. The crux of his arguments remained that bail is the rule and jail is the exception and that Chidambaram has checked all three boxes required to qualify for bail - No flight risk, no evidence tampering and no witness influencing.

Although the Delhi High Court while denying him bail in the CBI case had established that Chidambaram was not a flight risk and neither could he tamper with evidence, but could influence witnesses and the Apex court had later held that probe agencies had no proof of possible influencing of witnesses; the ED told the top court that Chidambaram could "influence witnesses even from within custody".

Sealed covers

Another constant feature all through the Chidambaram bail hearings was the fact that probe agencies have repeatedly chosen to submit important evidence in sealed covers to the court.

This began with the CBI submitting statements of a witness during a custody hearing, allegedly showing Chidambaram trying to influence him and ended with the Apex court allowing the ED to submit evidentiary documents in a sealed cover on Thursday.

However, Justice Banumathy while granting bail to Chidambaram in the CBI case had ruled that these witness statements do not prove anything.

The drama

And of course, the court proceedings over the last few months have seen quite a bit of drama in the courtroom, starting from Chidambaram's supporters tearing-up during trial court proceedings to the senior advocates using their wits at every possible opportunity.

On Wednesday, Sibal had argued that his client was being treated like the infamous 'Ranga' and 'Billa' and Mehta countered it by saying that their offences are not the only ones that can be classified as being of a grave nature.

During the trial court proceedings, the nation also saw Chidambaram taking a dig at the BJP government with his witty remarks whenever possible.

Most importantly, the only allegation that any of the probe agencies have been able to substantiate so far is a payment of Rs 9.96 lakh to a Karti-related company, according to the chargesheet filed by the CBI. It now remains to be seen what the top court pronounces in its verdict.