INX Case : “P Chidambaram has lost 4 kg in jail”, says Lawyer

Opposing Mr Chidambaram’s request for bail, the CBI told the court that the 74-year-old Congress leader poses a flight risk and could also influence a witness. The chargesheet was filed before a special court, the agency said.

“The witness has given a statement that he is being influenced. We don’t wish to disclose his identity and his name has been given submitted to the CBI court in a sealed cover,” Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the CBI, said.

Saying that the country needs to have a “zero tolerance policy” on corruption, Mr Mehta told the court that charges in the case against Mr Chidambaram include forgery.

Countering the CBI, Mr Chidambaram’s lawyer and party colleague Kapil Sibal said, “P Chidambaram’s passport is impounded, there is a lookout notice against him and he has never applied for travel. So where is the question of flight risk? How can he run away? He is recognised all over the world.”

Mr Chidambaram has lost weight while in custody – more than 4 kg – and given the onset of winter and fear of dengue, there is no justification to keep him in jail, Mr Sibal said. “It is only to humiliate him. If the witness is influenced, it is the duty of the government to protect the witness… he hasn’t influenced anyone,” the Congress leader added.

After hearing both the sides, the Supreme Court reserved its order on Mr Chidambaram’s bail plea.

P Chidambaram, who served twice as finance minister and also as a home minister in the previous Congress-led governments, was arrested in a dramatic late-night swoop on August 21 by officers from the CBI.

After being questioned at the agency’s headquarters for 14 days, he was transferred to the capital’s Tihar jail under judicial custody on September 5.