On Thursday, Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar hit out at senior Congress leader P Chidambaram saying the former Union Minister violated bail conditions by claiming clear record during his tenure as a union minister.
Speaking to the media, Prakash Javadekar accused Chidambaram of violating the bail conditions by claiming to have a very clear record as a minister despite being accused of involving in multi-crore scams during his tenure as a minister.
Javadekar said that the claim of Chidambaram, who was released on bail on Wednesday after spending 106 days in jail, amounted to “self- certification”.
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“The Supreme Court had asked the Congress leader not to speak about the case against him while ordering his release on bail. What he said is in violation of this condition,” Javadekar said.
Earlier in the day, former Finance Minister P Chidambaram, who is out on bail in connection with multi-crore INX Media scam case, had addressed a press conference at AICC headquarters despite apex court’s order not to give statements to the media over the cases against him.
Chidambaram said, ”I am glad to speak to you exactly 106 days after I last spoke to you.”
In the press conference, P Chidambaram claimed that the government was incapable of reversing slowdown. “My record as Minister and my conscience are absolutely clear. Officers who have worked with me, business persons who have interacted with me and journalists who have observed me know that very well,” said P Chidamabaram while giving a clean chit to himself.
On his release yesterday, the Supreme Court had put up conditions ordering him not to give any press interviews or make public statements on the INX Media case. He was also asked to furnish bail bonds of Rs. 2 lakh.
Read: Chidambaram gets bail, to walk out after 106 days but can not talk to media
Apart from these conditions, the passport of the accused would remain confiscated and he would not be able to leave the country without permission. He was also directed to make himself available for interrogation. The court had also ordered him to not try to influence any case witnesses.
The former Union minister was arrested by the CBI after a high-level drama where CBI officials had to scale the walls of his residence on August 21. Later, the ED had taken the custody of Chidambaram on October 17, before his bail order came for the CBI case.
P Chidambaram is accused in the INX Media scam which involves charges of bribery and lobbying in granting foreign investments worth over Rs 300 crores to INX Media. INX Media, later known as NewsX, was owned by Peter and Indrani Mukherjee of the sensational Sheena Bora murder case. Chidambaram is accused of misusing his power as the finance minister to grant INX Media an FIPB clearance.