PC knocks doors of Delhi HC, trial court

New Delhi: Former finance minister P Chidambaram, who is in Tihar jail, knocked the doors of the Delhi High Court and a trial court on Thursday in connection with corruption and money laundering cases arising out of the INX Media scam.

Chidambaram, who will spend his 74th birthday on Monday in the prison, pleaded for bail in the corruption case in the high court and sought permission from the trial court to surrender in the money laundering case.

A battery of senior advocates including his party colleagues from Congress, Kapil Sibal, A M Singhvi, Vivek Tankha and Salman Khurshid appeared for Chidambaram in the high court before Justice Suresh Kait who asked the CBI to file status report on his bail plea within a week and posted the matter for hearing on September 23.

Chidambaram withdrew from the high court his another plea challenging the trial court's order remanding him

to judicial custody till September 19, after the judge asked as to why he has filed two separate petitions.

The high court allowed his submission and said the petition is "dismissed as withdrawn".

Hours after the high court proceedings, Sibal along few junior lawyers rushed to the special trial court at Rouse Avenue and argued that Chidambaram be allowed to surrender in the money laundering case lodged by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in which the Supreme Court has declined to give him relief against the high court order dismissing his anticipatory bail.

Special judge Ajay Kumar Kuhar reserved the order for tomorrow.