Shashi Tharoor praised Chidambaram for standing up to "persecution and character assassination".
Highlights
- The MP praised Chidambaram's "strength of character" even in trying times
- True to his style, he used "schadenfreude", an uncommon word, in tweet
- The Enforcement Directorate has issued a lookout notice for Chidambaram
A day after probe agencies summoned Union Minister P Chidambaram in an alleged money laundering case involving INX Media, Congress leader Shashi Tharoor came out in his support with a tweet claiming that justice will prevail in the end. And true to his style, he took the opportunity to treat his followers on social media to yet another tongue twister of a word.
His tweet, in this instance, referred to a quote by Mr Chidambaram to a newspaper daily last year: "To a person running scared, every shadow will be a demon."
"Well said @PChidambaram_IN!" Shashi Tharoor said in his tweet. "It is a tribute to your strength of character that you are standing up to persecution and character assassination with courage and confidence. I believe justice will prevail in the end. Till then, we will have to allow some malicious minds their schadenfreude."
The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines schadenfreude, a word of German origin, as "enjoyment derived from the troubles of others".
Mr Chidambaram's streak of bad luck extended into Wednesday as the Supreme Court refused to give him an urgent hearing on his request for anticipatory bail, instead pushing the petition to Friday. The Enforcement Directorate put out a lookout circular for the Congress leader after CBI investigators failed to find him in his Delhi home on two occasions yesterday. He was arrested amid high drama at his home on Wednesday evening.
The Delhi High Court had rejected the former Union Minister's request for anticipatory bail earlier that day. During the hearing, Justice Sunil Gaur said that Mr Chidambaram's involvement in the case has been prima facie revealed, and anticipatory bail cannot be granted just because he is an MP. He also rejected the petitioner's claim that he was being targeted by the BJP-led centre for political reasons.
"It is preposterous to say that the prosecution of Chidambaram is baseless, politically motivated and an act of vendetta. This is a classic case of money laundering," the judge said, adding that the hands of investigating agencies cannot be tied up in such a "massive economic offence".
Earlier on Wednesday, the Congress had also rallied behind its senior leader, alleging that he was being unfairly targeted by the BJP-led central government. "Modi's government is using the ED, CBI and sections of a spineless media to character-assassinate Mr Chidambaram. I strongly condemn this disgraceful misuse of power," former party chief Rahul Gandhi tweeted. His sister, Priyanka Gandhi, said Mr Chidambaram was being "shamelessly hunted down" because of his penchant for "exposing the government's failures".
The Congress leader came under the scanner after probe agencies accused his son, Karti Chidambaram, of receiving kickbacks in exchange for facilitating an infusion of foreign funds amounting to Rs 305 crore into INX Media in 2007. Mr Chidambaram was the Finance Minister in the UPA government at the time.