Finance minister P Chidambaram on Friday got a huge relief from the Supreme Court as it dismissed Janata Party president Subramanian Swamy’s plea for a probe into his role in the 2G spectrum scam.
“No material is…available even prima facie to conclude that Chidambaram abused his official position or used any corrupt or illegal means,” said a bench of Justice GS Singhvi and Justice KS
File photo of Union finance minister P Chidambaram in New Delhi. PTI/Manvender Vashist
Radhakrishnan.
Chidambaram was finance minister when the 2G scam unfolded in 2008 but was moved to the home portfolio after the 26/11 attacks. Swamy moved the top court in August 2011 for a CBI probe against him.
The court’s verdict came as a shot in the arm for the Congress as the UPA government battles charges of corruption and struggles to save the ongoing Parliament session, where the BJP’s aggressive stance over the CAG report on coal blocks allocation has not allowed proceedings.
Janata Party chief Subramanian Swamy addresses the media in New Delhi. PTI
The verdict has blunted the BJP’s campaign to call Chidambaram as a witness before a joint parliamentary committee probing the 2G scam.
BJP members had walked out of a meeting earlier this week after the Congress objected to their suggestion that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Chidambaram be summoned and questioned by the panel.