P Chidambaram: The entire top brass of the Congress had come out in support of P Chidambaram.
P Chidambaram's 106-day "incarceration was vengeful and vindictive", Congress MP Rahul Gandhi tweeted after the former Union Minister was granted bail by the Supreme Court in the INX Media money-laundering case.
"Mr P Chidambaram's 106 day incarceration was vengeful and vindictive. I'm glad that the SC has granted him bail. I'm confident that he will be able to prove his innocence in a fair trial," Mr Gandhi said in a tweet.
A three-judge top court bench, headed by Justice R Banumathi, granted bail to the veteran Congress leader. He is expected to walk out of Delhi's Tihar Jail today, after almost three months in prison.
Mr Chidambaram, however, cannot travel without permission and has to present himself for questioning whenever required, the court said. The senior Congress leader also cannot make any public statements on the case, give interviews or contact witnesses.
His son Karti Chidambaram told NDTV that his father will be present in parliament tomorrow at 11 am. The senior Chidambaram is a Rajya Sabha member from Tamil Nadu.
The entire top brass of the Congress had come out in support of Mr Chidambaram, 74, after his dramatic arrest in August. Senior Congress leaders including Sonia Gandhi had visited Mr Chidambaram in jail in a show of support. Last month, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi also visited him. Congress leaders Kapil Sibal and Abhishek Manu Singhvi, represented him in court.
Soon after Mr Chidambam's bail, the BJP's Sambit Patra took a swipe at him, saying he had joined the "OOBC (Out On Bail Club)" of the Congress.
The Supreme Court today criticised the Delhi High Court for making observations on the merits of the case and noted that the "triple test" was found in the politician's favour - that he was not absconding, not tampering with evidence and cooperating with investigators. The top court, which observed that economic offences are grave in nature, said "grant of bail is rule and refusal is exception".