Former Indian finance minister bailed

NEW DELHI: Indian ex-finance minister Palaniappan Chidambaram was granted bail Wednesday (Dec 4), 106 days after his dramatic arrest on corruption charges that he says are part of a government witch-hunt against political opponents.

Chidambaram, 73, a political veteran from the main opposition Congress party, was told to submit a bond of 200,000 Rupees (US$2,800), not make any public statements on the issue and to surrender his passport.

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Congress had earlier described Chidambaram's arrest in August by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), India's equivalent to the FBI, as a "shameless witch-hunt" by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government.

Chidambaram, a wealthy lawyer from a land-owning family from Tamil Nadu state, served twice as finance minister and once as home minister during Manmohan Singh's 2004-14 tenure as premier.

He is accused of receiving bribes, money-laundering and of illegally approving the acquisition of a telecommunications firm by a Malaysian company.

His son Karti Chidambaram and several government officials are also being iRead More – Source