The former Union Finance Minister P. Chidambaram on Sunday attacked the CBI for “indiscriminately targeting” some of the bankers, and pointed out that the agency received the “ultimate certificate” from Union Minister Arun Jaitley, who termed it “investigative adventurism”.
In a series of tweets, the Congress leader said he was glad that Mr. Jaitley’s conscience and legal acumen finally stirred him to condemn the “indiscriminate targeting of eminent bankers” in cases involving thousands of crores.
“The CBI has received the ultimate certificate from the one who has the best ringside seat, the Finance Minister (on leave): ‘Adventurism and megalomania have overtaken investigators!’” Mr. Chidambaram tweeted.
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He accused the government of being in slumber when there was “indiscriminate targeting” of distinguished IAS officers and others in cases where the allegations were about small sums of money. Though he did not specify, it could be a reference to the Aircel-Maxis case in which several IAS officers have been named in the chargesheet. Mr. Chidambaram has also been named as an accused in the case. “What cause are we serving or actually hurting?’ asks the FM. He knows the answer. The cause of justice,” he said.
Former Law Minister Salman Khursid also attacked the CBI. “FM Jaitley is perturbed by the CBI’s adventurism but is that not their standard procedure?,” Mr. Khursid tweeted .
Criticising the CBI for its action in the case against former ICICI CEO Chanda Kochhar, Mr. Jaitley wrote a Facebook post where he criticised the CBI and said, “There is a fundamental difference between investigative adventurism and professional investigation.”