The Supreme Court on Tuesday granted bail to former finance minister P Chidambaram in the CBI case registered in 2017 for alleged corruption in Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) approval to the INX Media group.
The senior Congress leader and Rajya Sabha MP would, however, not be released as he remained in the custody of the Enforcement Directorate in a money laundering case.
A bench of Justices R Banumathi, A S Bopanna and Hrishikesh Roy allowed an appeal filed by Chidambaram against the September 30 order of the Delhi High Court which rejected his plea for bail.
Chidambaram was arrested by the CBI in connection with the graft case on August 21 from his Jor Bagh residence here following high drama, hours after he addressed a press conference to reject the allegations that he remained unavailable.
He was last week chargesheeted along with others, including his son Karti and some bureaucrats, for causing loss to the exchequer by allegedly committing offences under the Prevention of Corruption Act and the Indian Penal Code.
The CBI had registered an FIR on May 15, 2017, alleging irregularities in an 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 court told him to submit his passport with trial court.
It said he can't leave the country without the court's permission.
It also set aside the findings of the Delhi HC on the merits of the case.