Karti Chidambaram, a Congress politician, has written to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, saying that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) violated his privileges and rights as a member by seizing work papers during a search last week.
“I’ve been the target of the blatantly unlawful and unconstitutional activity. In the guise of conducting an inquiry into an 11-year-old government of India decision in which I had no role, the Central Bureau of Investigation visited my home in Delhi. “In a letter to Om Birla, he wrote:
“During this ostensible search, select CBI personnel grabbed my extremely classified and sensitive personal notes and files related to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Information and Technology; I am a member,” Mr Chidambaram said.
“My draft notes and questions that I had planned to ask witnesses called to the Committee were also taken, shocking. Furthermore. My handwritten notes on the depositions given to the Committee by Witnesses were also brought – for reasons only the Agency knows about, “he wrote.
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“Insofar as they interfere with my obligations as a Parliamentarian, the CBI’s activities amount to a frontal attack on the democratic ideals upon which our Parliament is built. As a result, I implore you to take prompt notice of this matter, which is a flagrant violation of my parliamentary privilege, “The Congressman went on to say.
Over the last five years, Mr Chidambaram and his family have been “targets of a persistent campaign by the current Government and its Investigative Agencies, who seek to suppress our voices of dissent by foisting one phoney case after another,” he added.
“Targeting a Member of the House in this manner is a privilege violation,” he added.
The CBI summoned the Congress MP for a second day on Friday after questioning him for nine hours on allegations of involvement in a “visa fraud.” On his way, he told the reporters, “It’s their pleasure to call me, and I must go.”
Former Finance Minister P Chidambaram’s son has been accused of accepting a bribe of Rs 50 lakh from a senior executive of a business building a power plant in Punjab, along with his close aide S Bhaskararaman.
According to the CBI’s First Information Report, or FIR, the work on establishing the power plant is being done by a Chinese business and is behind schedule. According to the CBI FIR, a bribe of Rs 50 lakh was paid to re-issue visas for 263 Chinese employees on the project.
All of the claims have been refuted by Karti Chidambaram. “If this isn’t harassment if this isn’t a witch hunt, then what is?” the Congress MP asked yesterday.
