Chidambaram bailed

Indian ex-finance minister Palaniappan Chidambaram, 73, was granted bail yesterday, 106 days after his dramatic arrest on corruption charges that he says are part of a government witch-hunt against political opponents. Congress had earlier described Chidambaram's arrest in August by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) as a "shameless witch-hunt" by BJPs 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.