No Evidence Against Chidambaram, Arrest Rests on Murder Accused’s Statement: Congress

The Congress on Thursday criticised the government and the CBI over the way former Union minister P Chidambaram was arrested from his home, alleging in New Delhi that the night-time raid was meant only to damage his reputation and settle scores for the ruling party.

The Congress’s case

Addressing reporters, senior Congress leader Randeep Surjewala said no offence had been alleged against either Chidambaram or his son Karti in the INX Media case. He said the FIR disclosed no offence against Chidambaram, no chargesheet had been filed, and the matter dated to 2007, with the arrest coming 12 years later.

Surjewala said the arrest relied on the statement of a jailed woman charged with killing her own daughter, given from prison after she turned approver. He was referring to INX Media promoter Indrani Mukerjea, whose statement to the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate has been a key part of the agencies’ evidence. She and her husband Peter Mukerjea are in jail over the killing of her daughter Sheena Bora.

He asked why the agencies had not arrested the officials who granted the FIPB approval or the officials of the company involved, while a man with 40 years in public life had been detained. He described the action as “brazen personal and political vendetta” by the Modi government, and claimed it was meant to divert attention from a struggling economy, job losses and a falling rupee.

The case

Chidambaram spent the night at CBI headquarters after his arrest on Wednesday at his Delhi home, where officers climbed the boundary wall to reach him. He is accused of helping INX Media secure foreign investment in 2007, when he was finance minister, at the behest of Karti, who allegedly received kickbacks. Chidambaram denies the charges and calls the case a political witch-hunt.

See also: Indian National Congress and political leaders.

Originally published on 22 August 2019. Rewritten on 9 October 2026.

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