NEW DELHI: In a setback to former finance minister P Chidambaram , a special CBI court on Thursday sent him to Tihar Jail in judicial custody till September 19 in the INX Media corruption case .“The allegations against the accused were found serious. Therefore, he was remanded to police custody. The investigation is still in progress. The CBI has apprehension that because of his status and position, the investigation may be hampered by the accused. It is not a case where the accused can be ‘released’ at the stage of considering his extension of remand,” special CBI judge Ajay Kumar Kuhar said.The judge allowed Chidambaram to carry his glasses and medicines to Jail 7, where he will be kept.The CBI has accused Chidambaram of misusing his position as then finance minister to grant foreign investment clearances to private TV channel INX Media Private Ltd in lieu of bribes which were paid to companies controlled, directly or indirectly, by his son, Congress MP Karti Chidambaram .Soon afterwards, Chidambaram, one of the senior most Congress leaders who held important portfolios of finance, home and commerce in different dispensations at the Centre, was taken to Tihar Jail in the capital.The special judge accepted the request for a separate cell with a western-style toilet and adequate security for the former minister who has Z-category cover.The order turning the Congress politician into an inmate of Jail 7 of Tihar was the second reverse Chidambaram suffered on Thursday. Earlier in the day, the Supreme Court had rejected his anticipatory bail plea in a money laundering case lodged by the ED, forcing the senior politician to withdraw his appeal against being sent to CBI custody in the INX Media case and clearing the way for the trial court to send him to Tihar.The apex court’s order came after a hearing that stretched for four days — an unusual occurrence in a matter concerning anticipatory bail.However, matters were compounded further after a few hours when special judge Kuhar upheld the plea made by solicitor general Tushar Mehta on the CBI’s behalf that Chidambaram be sent to judicial custody. Significantly, Mehta referred to the SC’s rejection of Chidambaram’s plea for interim bail by saying that in the money laundering case, the apex court had recognised the possibility of tampering with evidence. He also showed the court a statement of one of the witnesses in the case, pointing out that the witness could be “easily influenced”. According to the CBI, Chidambaram could influence banks, which were easily amenable.Chidambaram’s imprisonment marks a turning point in the cases investigating agencies have been pursuing against leaders of Congress and its allies. Investigation by agencies and their efforts to prosecute the accused have gained momentum with the ED arresting Congress strongman in Karnataka D K Shivakumar and questioning the son and son-in-law of senior party leader Ahmed Patel.In the trial court, the CBI’s plea was opposed by senior advocate Kapil Sibal, who said sending his client to judicial custody was not mandatory in law and sought his release. “There is no such rule that after police custody gets over, there has to be judicial custody. The court must apply its mind to decide if facts demonstrated are enough to send the accused to judicial custody,” he said.He said his client was willing to surrender before the ED. “If the ED takes him in custody, I have no problem,” he said.Mehta sought Chidambaram’s judicial custody on the ground that he was a “powerful and influential” person in public life who wielded “substantial and pervasive influence” over witnesses and could potentially tamper with evidence.Sibal rejected the claim and said the CBI hadn’t brought anything on record to even suggest that the accused ever tried to influence witnesses or interfere with the investigation.The court issued notice to the ED on Chidambaram’s plea seeking to surrender in the INX Media money laundering case.