In a dramatic turn of events, Congress leader P Chidambaramwho faces arrest by the Central Bureau of Investigation and the EnforcementDirectorate, made a surprise appearance at the Congress headquarters onWednesday evening to assert that he was not running from the law but wasseeking its help.Chidambaram also rejected suggestions from the ruling partyand sections of the media that he had been on the run. The ex-minister said hehad been working with a team of lawyers through the night on the petition movedbefore the Supreme Court on Wednesday. He said he believed that the foundationof democracy is liberty.“I was aghast that I was accused of hiding from thelaw, on the contrary, I was seeking protection of law. My lawyers tell thatcases will be listed on Friday. I bow down to orders of Supreme Court. Irespect law even if it is applied with an unequal hand by probe agencies,” saidChidambaram.

The former minister also insisted that neither he, noranyone from his family, had been named as an accused in the INX Media case byeither the CBI or the ED.

 “For the last 24hours, much has happened, that has caused concern to some and confusion tomany. In the INX media case, I have not been accused of any offence, nor hasanyone else, including any member of my family been accused of any offence, infact there is no chargesheet filed either by the CBI or the ED before anycompetent court, further, the FIR recorded by CBI doesn’t include anywrongdoing by me, yet there is an impression that a great offence has beencommitted and my son and I have committed those offences, nothing could befurther from the truth.”In the morning, a Supreme Court bench headed by JusticeN.V. Ramana refused to grant interim relief from arrest to Chidambaram andreferred his plea for anticipatory bail in the INX media case to Chief JusticeRanjan Gogoi for urgent hearing. His plea was put up for hearing on Friday.

Chidambaram has challenged the Delhi High Court order whichrejected his anticipatory bail plea on Tuesday.The agencies had opposedChidambaram’s bail plea, saying his custodial interrogation was necessary as hewas evasive and had given false information during questioning.

The ED and the CBI are probing how his son Karti Chidambaramgot clearance from the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) in 2007 whenChidambaram was the Finance Minister.

Karti Chidambaram was arrested on February 28, 2018 by theCBI for allegedly accepting money to facilitate the FIPB clearance to INXMedia. He was later granted bail. His chartered accountant S. Bhaskararaman wasalso arrested and released on bail.

On January 25, the Delhi High Court reserved order onChidambaram’s bail plea in the case being probed by the Enforcement Directorateand the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).