Chidambaram was interned in Coimbatore and Kannanoor jail. He was not treated as a political prisoner, nor was the sentence "de facto" of simple imprisonment; rather, he was treated as a convict sentenced to life imprisonment and required to do hard labour, which caused his health to suffer. Historian and Tamil scholar R. A. Padmanabhan later noted in his works that Chidambaram was "yoked (in place of bulls) to the oil press like an animal and made to work it in the cruel hot sun..." From prison Chidambaram continued correspondence, maintaining a steady stream of legal petitions. He was finally released on 12 December 1912.