Congress says minister influencing judge issue regrettable

Congress today termed as "regrettable" the issue of a Union Minister allegedly trying to influence a Madras High Court judge in a pending criminal case but said it was "very difficult" to proceed further in the matter till the name was revealed by the judiciary.

Congress on Friday termed as "regrettable" the issue of a Union Minister allegedly trying to influence a Madras High Court judge in a pending criminal case but said it was "very difficult" to proceed further in the matter till the name was revealed by the judiciary.

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"As far as there no name, it is very difficult for the Prime Minister or the power that be to proceed further in this matter," party spokesperson Shakeel Ahmed told PTI when asked what Congress and the government will do further in the matter.

"Nobody should influence any judicial officer in any legal matter. We consider the incident regrettable," Ahmed said condemning the incident.

"But the judge has not named the minister. Only when any name comes up, the next course of action can be started," Ahmed said.

The issue also echoed in Parliament yesterday with the opposition demanding his dismissal after AIADMK supremo J Jayalalithaa named A Raja as the person involved, a charge he refuted.

Earlier the Union HRD Minister Kapil Sibal suggested that the judge concerned--Justice R Raghupathy--should reveal the identity of the minister.