New Delhi, Feb 4 (IANS) Welcoming the trial court order declining to make Home Minister P. Chidambaram an accused in the 2G case, a relieved Congress Saturday said charges against him were politically motivated. However, the opposition maintained that the verdict was not final and the government was still in the dock over the scam.
The government’s main trouble shooter, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said Chidambaram was being unnecessarily persecuted.
“It is a good judgment and it is a relief because unnecessarily somebody was persecuted,” Mukherjee told reporters.
Stating that “Chidambaram is not responsible for the 2G scam at all”, Communications Minister Kapil Sibal said charges against him were “politically motivated”.
Stating that “the opposition has been going for Chidambaram’s blood”, Sibal said: “Such allegations destroy the credibility of the political system.”
Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni said: “Truth will remain truth, no matter how many times it is tested.”
Soni argued that there was no basis of “moral responsibility of the government” as Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Special Judge O.P. Saini did not make any observation on Chidambaram’s role in the 2G scam.
However, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) maintained that the verdict was not final.
“BJP will continue to insist on the accountability of the government both inside and outside parliament. We have ample evidence on how the then finance minister (Chidambaram) overlooked advice of senior bureaucrats in his ministry,” BJP general secretary Ravishankar Prasad told reporters here.
He pointed out that Saturday’s order was just the first step in the litigation process.
“This is the order of the very first court. There are other hierarchy of courts also and Subramanian Swamy has clearly said that he will approach the high court and Supreme Court.
“In the entire 2G matter, the higher courts have often upset the decision of the lower court. We need to look at what the two higher courts will say,” he added.
Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley told reporters that the party will continue its boycott of Chidambaram.
“The recent Supreme Court verdict (of cancellation of 122 2G licences) was an indictment of the government,” he added.
Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) leader Nilotpal Basu said: “The prime minister must explain to the people why there was a policy failure.”
United Progressive Alliance (UPA) member Trinamool Congress evaded a direct comment on the case, but said the guilty must be punished.
“We don’t want to comment on the judgment because the matter is still sub judice and the petitioner has the option of approaching the higher court,” Trinamool Congress MP Sukhendu Shekar Roy told IANS.
