In the letter, P Chidambaram had written that the Lalit Modi "was being investigated by the competent authorities in India for possible serious offences".
A day after NDTV accessed correspondence between the United Progressive Alliance government and the British authorities to bring back Lalit Modi to India, a war of words has broken out between the Congress and the BJP over bringing back the disgraced cricket boss.
In his letter dated August 2013 accessed by NDTV under the Right to Information Act, former Finance Minister P Chidambaram wrote to UK Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne asking him to have Mr Modi deported since his passport had been revoked by India and he was under "investigation for serious offences". The foreign office wrote back on September 23 suggesting that India should ask for extradition.
Attacking the government,
Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said, "Deportation was the best way of getting him back, but our case for deportation fell through when India allowed Modi to travel out of the UK, effectively ending our case for deportation."
Within an hour the BJP hit back, with union minister and spokesperson Prakash Javadekar challenging the Congress asking why the UPA had only issued a blue corner notice and why a non bailable warrant wasn't issued against Lalit Modi.
Earlier this year, for weeks the Parliament had been brought a standstill as the Opposition led by the Congress, which was in power in 2013, attacked the BJP-led government, which won the elections in the 2014, saying that foreign minister Sushma Swaraj had helped Mr Modi get travel papers in Britain.
Under investigation for allegations of money laundering by the Enforcement Directorate, Lalit Modi's passport was suspended by the Indian authorities in 2011 but was subsequently reinstated by the Delhi High court in 2014.