Rejecting the Opposition demand for the resignation of Home Minister, Mr P. Chidambaram, the Law Minister, Mr Salman Khurshid, today suggested that there was nothing in the Delhi court observations against him or the government.
He hit out at the Opposition for disrupting the proceedings in Parliament, saying it did not want the Government to highlight its achievements on inflation front.
“...I think it is extremely unfair. Please respect a person’s dignity and a person’s right to do a job fairly squarely and do it according to the law,” Mr Khurshid told reporters outside Parliament House.
He said he did not think there was anything in the court’s observations that could raise questions about Mr Chidambaram or the government.
Asserting that the Government is firmly behind Chidambaram, he said, “Chidambaram is in the Government. He is part of the Government and we are all part of the Government and we all stand together.”
His statement came after the Opposition disrupted Parliament following a Delhi court allowing the Janata Party Chief, Dr Subramanian Swamy, to depose as a witness and lead further evidence in support of his complaint against Mr Chidambaram in 2G case.
“You have to start at the bottom. Many have to go up. If at the bottom you find there is a case, you go to the next stage. If there is no case and nothing to ask and nothing that requires further enquiry, you stop there and then. Its very simple,” Mr Khurshid said rejecting the Opposition’s demand that Mr Chidambaram should resign.
Mr Khurshid asked the Opposition to let Parliament function.
“My humble request is to ask them and urge them to let Parliament function. Let the law take its own course. Courts have their jobs to do, we have our jobs to do,” he said.
“I don’t know if anything has happened in court. Even if what they are saying is supposed to happen in court even that could not justify what they are asking for,” he said.
Mr Khurshid said the Government cannot change the law because theOpposition in a particular case wants to change it.
“It is like saying that the moment you give an application everybody mentioned in the application should be hauled up. It can’t be done. That is not the law of this country,” the Law Minister said.
“We can’t change the law of the country because the Opposition in a particular case wants to change it. The law is same for an ordinary citizen and for the minister who is looking after home affairs.
“I don’t think you can change it simply by saying in one particular case it should be different because you don’t like that person and I am saying that is not acceptable to me,” he added.