The Delhi High Court, on Thursday, decided to advance the hearing of former Union Minister P. Chidambaram’s plea challenging the cognisance of a chargesheet against him in the INX Media money laundering case. Originally scheduled for August 13, the hearing has been moved to May 13 due to the imminent commencement of trial court proceedings concerning the framing of charges against Chidambaram, which are set for April 7.
Justice Ravinder Dudeja presided over the session where Chidambaram’s counsel highlighted the urgency of addressing the plea to prevent it from becoming infructuous should the trial court proceed with the charges on the scheduled date. The high court has a full-court reference on April 4, necessitating adjustments in hearing dates.
The plea centers on the argument that when the trial court took cognisance of the offences under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) following the filing of the chargesheet in 2021, the necessary sanction had not been obtained by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for prosecuting Chidambaram, who was a public servant at the time of the alleged offence. His legal team contends that the agency was required to secure sanction under the provisions of the CrPC and the PMLA.
In response, the ED’s counsel maintained that the allegations of money laundering do not pertain to the discharge of any official duty, suggesting that the lack of sanction should not impede the proceedings.
The INX Media case involves allegations of irregularities in the 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 case was registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on May 15, 2017.
Chidambaram was first arrested by the CBI in the INX Media corruption case on August 21, 2019. He was subsequently arrested by the ED in a related money laundering case on October 16 of the same year. Additionally, the Delhi High Court had previously stayed proceedings against Chidambaram in the Aircel-Maxis case lodged by the ED following a similar challenge against the chargesheet cognisance in November 2024.
