Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjeewala, in a statement, said the government was taking out political grudges instead of bringing justice to the case. He said the government was misusing the agencies to harass Congress leaders.
The Congress on Saturday came out openly in support of former union minister P Chidambaram, accusing the government of witch-hunting his family in the Aircel-Maxis case, crossing all limits. On Friday, the former minister had dared the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to question him instead of harassing his son Karti Chidambaram.
Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjeewala, in a statement, said the government was taking out political grudges instead of bringing justice to the case. He said the government was misusing the agencies to harass Congress leaders.
"We agree with P Chidambaram completely. If any questions have to be asked, why is the BJP government shy of asking those questions to Chidambaram. Does it not show the double standards and malice to prosecute the family of Chidambaram? His son Karthi is being repeatedly harassed with successive notices which have no meaning, content and foundation," the statement said.
Earlier, in a series of tweets, Chidambaram had accused the probe agency of spreading misinformation. He said in Aircel-Maxis, he had approved minutes after the recommendation by the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB). "Sad CBI spreading misinformation. In Aircel-Maxis, FIPB officials have recorded statements before CBI that approval given was valid," Chidambaram tweeted. "In Aircel-Maxis, FIPB recommended and I approved minutes. CBI should question me and not harass Karti Chidambaram," he added.
The CBI had called Karti for questioning on Thursday in connection with the foreign investment clearance given in the Aircel-Maxis deal in 2006 when his father Chidambaram was the finance minister. The Aircel-Maxis deal refers to a series of allegations of kickbacks in the telecom sector, which was part of the wider 2G scam that engulfed the UPA regime.
Surjeewala said the agencies had questioned Chidambaram in the year 2014, along with FIPB officials. But the agencies deliberately widened the ambit and questioned Karti Chidambaram in November 2014, where he rejected the knowledge or connection to Aircel-Maxis transaction. Later a charge sheet was then filed against Maxis and the Maran brothers. But the special judge on February 2, 2017 quashed the charges and terminated the proceedings.
Congress spokesperson said after quashing of proceedings and charges by the Special Judge, CBI/ED is still hounding the family of Chidambaram, including his son, despite the fact that the original FIR made no mention of any family member and proceedings in the court also stand quashed.
He said people would not be fooled by such diversionary tactics and attributed the current proceedings to failures of government to address core issues of unemployment, economic downslide, farm distress, demonetization disaster and a repressive tax regime with the entire spectrum of state authorities being used to convert the country into a police state.
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 "P Chidambaram")
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