The Delhi High Court on Thursday extended the interim protection to former Finance Minister P Chidambaram in connection with the INX Media case. He has been granted interim protection from the arrest till January 15 next year.

The counsel for the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) had sought adjournment as the Solicitor General Tushar Mehta was in the Supreme Court. Chidambaram had filed an anticipatory bail plea in the Delhi High Court, seeking protection from the arrest by the CBI and the ED.

The senior Congress leader and his son Karti Chidambaram are under the scanner of the CBI and the ED in connection with the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) clearance granted to INX Media, a venture promoted by former media baron Peter Mukherjea and Indrani Mukerjea.

The alleged irregularities took place in 2007 when Chidambaram was the Finance Minister under the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government led by then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

The CBI had registered an FIR on May 15 last year against alleged irregularities in the FIPB clearance to INX Media for receiving overseas funds to the tune of Rs 305 crore in 2007 when Chidambaram was the Union finance minister. It is alleged that Karti had received funds to the tune of Rs 10 lakh in the case.

The CBI alleged Karti also received money from INX media to scuttle a tax probe. The firm was owned at the time by Peter and Indrani Mukerjea, who are currently in jail on charges of murdering Indrani's daughter Sheena Bora.The Enforcement Directorate has also registered a money laundering case.

The CBI and the ED had carried out a series of raids on the houses and offices owned by the Chidambarams. Karti Chidambaram was questioned several times by the ED.

A lookout notice, which prevents a passenger from travelling abroad, was issued against him as the agencies suspected that he would try to close foreign accounts where he had parked the money from the kickbacks. Earlier, the Supreme Court on Monday granted relief to Karti Chidambaram in INX Media Case. The apex court has allowed him to travel abroad from July 23 to July 31 to United States, UK and France.