Never met Chidambaram, says hotelier

A Delhi-based hotelier at the centre of a controversy involving home minister P Chidambaram on Friday said he had never met Chidambaram despite engaging him as a lawyer and called the entire matter a "conspiracy" by business rivals.

A Delhi-based hotelier at the centre of a controversy involving home minister P Chidambaram on Friday said he had never met Chidambaram despite engaging him as a lawyer and called the entire matter a "conspiracy" by business rivals.

HT Image

"I have never met him," SP Gupta told Times Now television channel when asked as to when was the last time he had met Chidambaram, who was his lawyer in 1999.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and other opposition parties have been alleging that Chidambaram by permitting withdrawal of prosecution against Gupta, chairman of Sunair Hotels Pvt Ltd, misused his office for his "former client". It demanded his summary dismissal and imprisonment.

Gupta said he was the victim of a conspiracy by a business rival. He said "the law will take its course" and he was hopeful the facts will be out soon.

"Because we are not living in a police state, we are living in a democratic state," he added.