India / As if I am Ranga-Billa: Chidambaram on HC verdict that denied bail

P Chidambaram, the former finance minister who has spent 98 days in custody after his arrest in the INX Media case, faulted the high court order for rejecting his bail request despite rejecting arguments presented by the Enforcement Directorate.

The high court, Chidambaram told a three-judge bench of the Supreme Court, had rejected concerns that he would tamper with evidence, was a flight risk and would influence witnesses.

And yet, senior lawyer Kapil Sibal, who is appearing for his 74-year-old colleague in the Congress, said the court rejected his bail on the ground that the offence he has been accused of is of serious nature.

“If their (court’s) argument of gravity of offence is accepted, then I will never get bail,” Sibal told the bench led by Justice R Banumathi.

Kapil Sibal also pointed to the high court’s stress on holding Chidambaram in jail lest it sends a wrong message.

“It is as if I am some Ranga-Billa. If I am not released on bail, it will send a wrong message to this country,” said Sibal, arguing for Chidambaram.

Ranga and Billa were two hardened Bombay criminals who came to Delhi soon after their release from Arthur Road jail. They kidnapped two teenagers and brutalised them in August 1978. The young siblings were on their way to the All India Radio building in the heart of the capital for a radio programme and had hitched a ride.

The torture of the two children before their murder had led the police to launch one of India’s biggest hunt for the criminals in the country four decades back. Two national bravery awards were also instituted in memory of the two siblings, Geeta and Sanjay Chopra. Ranga and Billa were eventually caught within days and hanged in 1982.

In case of the allegation against Chidambaram, his legal team said unlike in offences such as murder where one knows that the offence has been committed, “in this case we don’t even know if there is an offence which has been committed or not. The offence is yet to be established”.

Chidambaram was arrested by the CBI on August 21 in the INX Media corruption case. The CBI had alleged 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 the finance minister. The senior Congress leader has been granted bail in the CBI case. He stays in jail in a related money laundering case investigated by the Enforcement Directorate.

Chidambaram said there was no document that links him to the case.

“All the other accused are out on bail or have not been arrested. Yet, I am the kingpin… According to them, corruption money of Rs 10 lakh was allegedly paid to Karti Chidambaram and since I am Karti Chidambaram’s father, I am the kingpin,” Sibal said.