My record as minister and my conscience are absolutely clear, P Chidambaram had said.
The BJP has accused Congress leader P Chidambaram of violating bail conditions by claiming to have a very clear record as a minister, and said the case against him was essentially about corruption he was allegedly involved in as the finance minister.
Union minister Prakash Javadekar told reporters that the claim of P Chidambaram, who was released on bail on Wednesday, amounted to "self-certification".
The Supreme Court had asked the Congress leader not to speak about the case against him while ordering his release on bail.
"P Chidambaram has violated the bail condition on the very first day after his release.... What he said is in violation of this condition," the BJP leader said.
A Supreme Court bench, while granting bail to Mr Chidambaram, asked him not to make any public comment in connection with the case.
Addressing a press conference at the Congress headquarters, the former finance minister had said earlier, "In the last 106 days, I was strong in spirit and I have become stronger because...my record as minister and my conscience are absolutely clear."
Taking a jibe at the opposition leader over his attack on the Modi government on a host of issues, Mr Javadekar said he has got to speak to the media after so many days and that is why he was taking out his anger on every subject.
Some Congress leaders are in jail, some have just got out of jail and some are on bail, he said, adding that the opposition party has become desperate.
It is not that they were in jail for their role in "freedom movement" but due to criminal charges against them, he said.
Hitting back at Mr Chidambaram over his criticism of the government that it had denied basic freedom to people in Kashmir since Article 370 was nullified in August, the Union minister said all media outlets have been functioning in the Valley.
"Kashmir is now on path to progress," Mr Javadekar said.
At the beginning of his press conference, Mr Chidambaram had said his first thoughts upon his release were with the Kashmiri people who "have been denied their basic freedoms since August 4, 2019."
Invoking the Emergency imposed by the Congress government in 1975, Mr Javadekar said the then Indira Gandhi government had clamped down on the media while the Modi government has shared all information related to the situation in Jammu and Kashmir with Parliament.
The government has allowed journalists from India and abroad to travel to Kashmir where, he added, incidents of stone-pelting have come down by more than half.
Referring to Mr Chidambaram's attack on the government over the issue of economic slowdown, he said low inflation and high growth in economy have been the highlights of the Modi dispensation since 2014 while the opposite was true for the preceding Congress-led UPA regime.