P Chidambaram Sent to Judicial Custody till November 27 in INX Media Money Laundering Case

New Delhi: A Delhi court on Wednesday extended till November 27 former Union minister P Chidambaram's judicial custody in the INX Media money laundering case filed by the Enforcement Directorate.

Special judge Ajay Kumar Kuhar passed the order after the senior Congress leader was produced before court through video conference due to lawyers' strike in the district courts.

The ED moved an application seeking extension of custody which was allowed by the court.

The court last month had rejected Chidambaram's interim bail plea on health grounds and had sent him to judicial custody till November 13 even as it dismissed the ED's plea for one-day custodial interrogation of the Rajya Sabha MP.

The court had then directed the authorities of Tihar Jail, where Chidambaram is lodged, to provide him medicines, western toilet, security and a separate cell. Chidambaram was also allowed to have home-cooked food in jail considering his medical condition, the court had said.

The 74-year-old was arrested by the CBI on August 21 in the INX Media corruption case and is currently in ED custody in a related money laundering matter.

The CBI had registered an FIR on May 15, 2017, alleging irregularities in a Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) clearance granted to the INX Media group for receiving overseas funds of Rs 305 crore in 2007, during Chidambaram's tenure as finance minister. The ED afterwards lodged a money-laundering case in this regard in 2017 and had taken him into custody on October 16 this year.