New Delhi:
The Opposition BJP has new ammunition in its demand for Home Minister P Chidambaram's resignation. The party has cited a newspaper report to allege that the minister misused his office to end a police investigation against SP Gupta, a businessman who was allegedly his client.
"He is not only guilty of improper conduct but also of a criminal offence. An offender cant be the nation's Home Minister," said the BJP's Yashwant Sinha.
Amid this high-volume controversy which led to both Houses of Parliament being adjourned for the day, Lieutenant Governor of Delhi, Tejinder Khanna, has asked that the investigation be restarted, because there is enough evidence to merit a "re-trial."
(Read: Lt Governor asks for cases to be re-started)In 1999, Mr Chidambaram allegedly served as the lawyer for SP Gupta, who was accused of cheating and forgery. He was also accused of misusing Sonia and Rajiv Gandhi's names on his letterhead. Mr Chidambaram's aides say he cannot recall whether the entrepreneur was his client.
In May, Mr Gupta petitioned the Home Ministry for cases against him to be dropped. In September, a committee headed by the Principal Secretary in the Delhi Government's Home Department approved this. The Lieutenant Governor gave approval for this on November 18. But now he has asked for investigation to continue, after being advised that there is enough evidence to merit an inquiry.
In May this year, the Home Ministry sent a letter asking the Delhi Police to withdraw the cases against Mr Gupta. The letter said this had the approval of the Home Minister, and that the Home Ministry had consulted the Law Ministry.
But Union Home Secretary RK Singh says that this language is a misrepresentation of the facts and that Mr Chidambaram simply asked for the Law Ministry's opinion on the cases to be passed on.
"The Ministry of Law was consulted, and a decision was taken that the petition (asking for cases to be withdrawn) and the Ministry of Law's advice may be forwarded to the Delhi government for appropriate scrutiny and action. The Home Minister wrote only that 'convey advice of law ministry'," said Mr Singh.