No case against Chidambaram: Government

The government Thursday rubbished opposition demands for the ouster of Home Minister P. Chidambaram who is alleged to have a role in the 2G scam.

There was no question of Chidambaram's resignation, Law Minister Salman Khurshid told reporters, after opposition MPs created a ruckus in parliament, gunning for the home minister.

Protests in parliament erupted after a special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court allowed Janata Party chief Subramanian Swamy to recall himself as a witness to prove Chidambaram's alleged complicity in the irregularities in the 2G spectrum allocation in 2007-08 when he was the finance minister.

Khurshid said the court had not passed any order against Chidambaram and that it was a procedural step to allow Swamy a right to be heard on his complaint.

"There is no case against Chidambaram. The court has not yet given any indication as to whether it agrees to a case against Chidambaram or not," the law minister said.

"There is nothing in the court order that raises any questions about Chidambaram or the government," Khurshid added.

He lashed out at the BJP and said opposition members should first study the order properly before stalling parliament.

BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi demanded a probe into Chidambaram's role in the 2G scam. "In this situation, Chidambaram should submit his resignation on his own, or else prime minister (Manmohan Singh) should sack him," Joshi told reporters.

The BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) had decided to boycott Chidambaram in parliament when the winter session started.

Chidambaram was not in the Lok Sabha in the morning as he was attending an exhibition on homeland security at Pragati Maidan.

The home minister refused to comment when journalists asked him about the issue. He walked away silently and visited several stalls in the exhibition.