I have not been accused of any crime: Chidambaram

NEW DELHI: After remaining elusive for almost 24 hours, former Finance Minister P Chidambaram, wanted in a money laundering case, made a dramatic appearance at a press conference in the Congress headquarters on Wednesday evening, and asked probe agencies to "respect" the law and wait till Friday when the Supreme Court hears his bail plea.

Addressing the media, he said, "Neither me, nor any member of my family has been accused of any offence in the INX media case. None of my family members are also implicated in the case."

He also said false information was being spread by pathological liars. "No charge-sheet has been filed against me by either CBI or ED. Even the FIR filed by CBI doesn't accuse me in any wrong doing," he said.


"I was aghast that I was accused of hiding from the law. On the contrary, I was seeking the protection of the law. I was accused of running away from justice. On the contrary, I was engaged in the pursuit of justice," Chidambaram told reporters.

He said he would wait till Friday, when the Supreme Court had decided to hear his plea against his arrest.

"I shall respect the law even if it is applied in unequal measures," the former Finance Minister said.

The senior Congress leader did not take any questions. Top Congress leaders, including Kapil Sibal, Ghulam Nabi Azad, Salman Khurshid and Ahmed Patel were also present at the AICC headquarters.

On Wednesday morning, a Supreme Court bench headed by Justice N.V. Ramana refused to grant interim relief from arrest to Chidambaram and referred his plea for anticipatory bail in the INX media case to Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi for urgent hearing.

Chidambaram has challenged the Delhi High Court order which rejected his anticipatory bail plea on Tuesday.

On January 25, the Delhi High Court reserved order on Chidambaram's bail plea in the case being probed by the Enforcement Directorate and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

The agencies had opposed Chidambaram's bail plea, saying his custodial interrogation was necessary as he was evasive and had given false information during questioning.

The ED and the CBI are probing how his son Karti Chidambaram got clearance from the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) in 2007 when Chidambaram was the Finance Minister.

Karti Chidambaram was arrested on February 28, 2018 by the CBI for allegedly accepting money to facilitate the FIPB clearance to INX Media. He was later granted bail. His chartered accountant S. Bhaskararaman was also arrested and released on bail.

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With additional inputs