CBI, ED teams reach Chidambaram's residence

A team of CBI and ED officials on Wednesday night reached the residence of former Union Minister and Congress leader P Chidambaram apparently in a bid to arrest him. They had to climb the gate wall to get inside the premises Chidambaram in posh Jor Bagh.

Chidamabaram had rushed to his residence after addressing a press conference at the AICC headquarters where he said that he believed in the wisdom of judges.

"Some days ago when I spoke in Parliament, I had said that every judge in the country will uphold the liberty of the citizen. I had said that the collective conscience and the institutional memory of the court as a venerable institution will guide all judges of the country. As much as I believe in liberty, I also believe in the wisdom of our judges," he told reporters.

"So until Friday and beyond, let us hope that the lamp of liberty will shine bright and illuminate the whole country," he said.

At the press conference, he was flanked by senior party leaders Kapil Sibal, Singhvi, Ghulam Nabi Azad, Ahmed Patel, Mallikarjun Kharge, Salman Khurshid, Vivek Tankha and KC Venugopal.

Dismissing reports that he was hiding from the law, Chidambaram said the whole of last night and today he was working with his lawyers and preparing the petition.

He said the petition was not listed despite best efforts of his lawyers, "who are also my good friends" and said that it will be heard only on Friday.

CBI and ED had earlier today issued a lookout circular against him. Prior to that, the teams visited his residence, apparently to arrest him, but returned as he was said to be not there.

Chidambaram faced a major setback on Tuesday when the Delhi High Court dismissed his anticipatory bail plea in corruption and money laundering case related to alleged INX Media scam.

( With inputs from ANI )