The agencies probing the case - the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate- visited the senior Congress leader's South Delhi home this evening but left as he was not in. Late in the evening, the agency put up a notice outside his home and e-mailed him a copy. Three officials - one from the CBI and two from Enforcement Directorate -- are waiting at the former minister's home.

Mr Chidambaram's legal team, led by Kapil Sibal, is challenging the High Court order in the Supreme Court and are expected to request for an early hearing today, sources said.

"Facts of the case prima facie reveal that the petitioner is the kingpin, that is, the key conspirator in this case," Delhi High Court's Justice Sunil Gaur said. The "magnitude and enormity" of material produced by the investigating agencies "dis-entitles him from any pre-arrest bail," he added.

Mr Chidambaram, who was given interim relief by the court last year when he applied for anticipatory bail, has been "evasive in his replies and has not cooperated with the investigation" since, the judge said. "Simply because he is a Member of Parliament would not justify grant of pre- arrest bail to him," he added

Calling it a "classic case of money laundering", Justice Sunil Gaur, who will retire Thursday, said the court cannot permit the prosecution in this "sensitive case to end up in smoke as it has happened in some other high profile cases".

The Chidambarams were named in the case by Peter and Indrani Mukerjea, who owned INX Media at the time. The two are currently in jail, accused of being involved in the murder of Indrani Mukerjea's daughter Sheena Bora.

The CBI registered a case in May 2017, alleging irregularities in the Foreign Investment Promotion Board clearance granted to the INX Media group for receiving foreign funds to the tune of Rs 305 crore in 2007, when Mr Chidambaram was the finance minister in Manmohan Singh's government.

Last year, the Enforcement Directorate lodged a money laundering case in this regard. The two agencies have already questioned Mr Chidambaram and his son Karti Chidambaram. In July 2018, the high court granted Mr Chidambaram interim protection from arrest and it was extended from time to time.

Karti Chidambaram was arrested in the case in 2018 and remained in custody for 23 days. The Enforcement Directorate has attached properties worth Rs 54 crore belonging to Karti Chidambaram and a firm in the case.