Chidambaram gets breather from Supreme Court; Granted bail in INX Media case lodged by CBI
New Delhi: The Supreme Court granted bail to former finance minister P Chidambaram on Tuesday, two months after he was arrested by the CBI in the INX Media corruption case.
A bench headed by Justice R Banumathi set aside the Delhi High Court's September 30 verdict denying him bail in the corruption case.
The bench, also comprising Justice A S Bopanna and Hrishikesh Roy, granted bail to Chidambaram on a personal bond of Rs 1 lakh with one surety of the like amount.
The top court said Chidambaram be released on bail if not required in any other case.
The bench made it clear that Chidambaram will not leave the country without prior permission of the court and make himself available for interrogation as and when called by the probe agency.
The bench clarified that its observation in the order granting bail to Chidambaram in the INX media corruption case would not have any bearing in other pending cases against him.
He is currently in ED's custody in connection with a separate money laundering case.
Chidambaram was arrested in connection with the graft case on August 21 by the CBI, which chargesheeted him and 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 top court also dismissed the CBI's plea challenging the findings of the high court which had said that Chidambaram was not a flight risk and cannot tamper with the evidence.
The bench also said the high court should not have gone into the merits of the case while deciding Chidambaram's petition. The apex court's order came on Chidambaram's appeal challenging the high court verdict denying him bail in the case.
The CBI registered an FIR on May 15, 2017 alleging irregularities in a Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) clearance granted to INX Media group for receiving overseas funds of Rs 305 crore in 2007, during Chidambaram's tenure as the finance minister.
Thereafter, the ED lodged a money laundering case in this regard in 2017.
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Two arrested in K'taka for assaulting minors, uploading CSAM content
Bengaluru (PTI): Two men were arrested for allegedly sexually assaulting two minor girls, recording the acts on mobile phones and uploading the videos online as child sexual abuse material, police said on Thursday.
The accused have been identified as Kiran Kumar (29), hailing from Chitradurga district, and Aditya M K (20), hailing from Shivamogga district, they said.
A probe was initiated after information was received from the NCRP portal regarding a suspected instance of creation of Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) for online dissemination, police said.
Accordingly, a case was registered at Kaggalipura Police Station under relevant sections of the IT Act on May 10, they added.
Investigation revealed that two minor girl victims were exploited and videos were created and uploaded to the internet. The child victims have subsequently recorded their statements as per procedure and further necessary legal steps have been taken, Pronab Mohanty Director General of Police, Cyber Command, said in a statement.
Based on the statements of the victims, the accused persons, who allegedly assaulted the minors, recorded the acts on mobile phones and uploaded the videos online, were arrested, he said.
Following the probe, sections 65(2) (rape) and 70 (gangrape) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, along with relevant sections of the POCSO Act, have been added to the FIR, police said.
Officials collected relevant information and on May 12, arrested the accused persons and seized three mobile phones belonging to them, in which the videos had allegedly been recorded, he said.
The accused were later produced before the court and taken into police custody for further investigation, he added.
According to him, in CSAM cases, police usually apprehend offenders who have downloaded such content or have kept them in their possession after obtaining them from elsewhere, usually the internet.
"The present case is one of the very few instances where content creators and uploaders have been apprehended," Mohanty added.
