Chidu has used up his nine lives: It’s time for him to go

In political terms, P Chidambaram is something of an Artful Dodger, a Teflon-coated politician on whom no allegation, however scandalous, sticks.

Political tempests may rage; his own election may be mired in controversy; scandals may erupt over his unusual interest in the 2G case; Chidambaram may even be (inferentially) accused of bugging the office of his own Cabinet colleague and senior minister; the dossier of Pakistan-based ‘terrrorists’ prepared by his ministry may contain a few names of those who are holed up in Hyderabad or Mumbai (thereby profoundly embarrassing the Indian government and weakening its case against Pakistan)….

But Chidambaram will waltz through all these political crises. And what’s more, he will waltz along in a starched, white dhoti - and a contemptuous sneer directed at anyone who should be so demented as to demand his resignation on moral grounds.

And such is the mystical power that Chidambaram wields that his Cabinet colleagues, many of whom themselves loathe his supercilious arrogance, will come out batting for him and defending him publicly against the gravest charges.

A lesser man than Chidambaram would have long been considered a political liability and thrown overboard – even by a government that has lowered the bar of accountability standards to the supremely low.

But Chidambaram is the consummate survivor: he is the cat with nine lives.

He may fall from a 30-foot building, but he will always land on his feet, with feline grace, his dhoti unruffled by a single crease.

But now, with the latest controversy that he finds himself in, Chidu the cat may have used up his nine lives.

The facts, as made public by a CNN-IBN investigation, are these:

Since 1999, SP Gupta, a hotelier-businessman has been involved in legal disputes with a finance company. It was a private complaint, undistinguished except for the fat that Chidambaram, then an Opposition MP, represented Gupta in court. That case has dragged on for years, in the way that court cases in India do, and a few more criminal cases have arisen from the original dispute.

Fast forward to 2008. Within days of Chidambaram taking over as home minister (following the Mumbai terror attacks), his ministry receives representations from Gupta (and his company Sunair Hotels) pleading the ministry’s intervention in having the criminal cases against them withdrawn. (Sunair claims that it had been making similar representations to the Delhi government and the Union home ministry since 2005, and that its 2008 representation had nothing to do with Chidambaram’s taking over as home minister. Yet, the fact is that its petitions began to receive response only after Chidambaram took office.)

The home ministry sought opinion from the law ministry on Gupta’s petition and was cautioned against interfering in the investigation and the trial. Chidambaram claims, and notes on the file bear him out, that he merely instructed his ministry officials to convey the law ministry’s opinion to the Delhi government.

Even so, in May 2011, AK Saxena, a director in the home ministry, wrote to Arvind Ray, principal secretary in the Delhi government, to say that on the advice of the law ministry, the Delhi government’s home department “should urgently scrutinise” the case against Gupta “for taking action… for withdrawal of prosecution immediately.”

Strikingly the letter signs of by claiming that “this has the approval of the Union Home Minister.”

The home ministry also sent several other letters to the Delhi Police asking seeking clarifications and status reports so that a decision on withdrawing cases against Sunair Hotels could be taken.

It even wrote to the Delhi police commissioner asking for the status of investigation for appraising the Union Home Minister.

In other words, the home ministry under Chidambaram was actively involved in writing to the Delhi government – and despite recommendations from the law ministry that the home ministry not interfere in the cases – advised withdrawal of FIRs in a case against a businessman who used to be Chidambaram’s client in the past. What’s more the home ministry’s letter seeking withdrawal of the FIRs claims that the letter has the minister’s approval.

It’s a striking case of conflict of interest, if there ever was one.

Of course, after the issue became public, Chidambaram and his ministry officials are desperate to cover their tracks. The home ministry letter invoking Chidambaram’s approval “had a drafting error” they say.

Chidambaram himself pleads loss of memory about whether Gupta was his client in the 1990s. In response to questions from CNN-IBN to Chidambaram, the ministry wrote back to say:

“The Home Minister is unable to recall at this distance of time whether he appeared in a case concerning M/s Sunair Hotels Pvt Ltd at any time between 1999 and 2003. When the file was submitted to the Home Minister, he noted on 4/5/2011 that MHA should not give any directions and MHA may only convey the advice of the Ministry of Law.”

‘Responding to opposition demands for Chidambaram’s resignation – or dismissal - the Congress megaphones have started blaring again. Their lack of conviction in the minister’s case is coming through in their half-hearted defences.

More embarrassingly, the Delhi government has now reversed the order it had issued – under advice from Chidambaram’s ministry – to withdraw the FIRs against Gupta.

The longer Chidambaram stays on, despite this open-and-shut case of conflict of interest, the greater the political liability that the government – even one so disconnected from moral moorings as the UPA government – has to bear.

It appears that Chidu-the-cat may have used up its nine lives, and may finally have to go. Unless of course he invokes yet more of the ‘mystic power’ that has enabled him to stay on in office and land on his feet every time he falls.