Union Minister of State for Finance Arjun Ram Meghwal refuted the charges of former Tamil Nadu chief secretary P Rama Mohana Rao against the Centre, saying “everyone is equal before the law”.
Rejecting Rao’s statement that the income tax raids against him were a “constitutional assault on the office of the chief secretary”, Meghwal said, “Whoever is wrong will be punished. He should think like a common citizen of this country. Had a common citizen done this, would he not have faced this?”
Echoing his colleague’s view, Law Minister Ravishankar Prasad said, “The law is equal to all and the chief secretary is not a constitutional post as claimed by Rao.” He said the income tax officials raided only after “credible evidence” was obtained by them.
Union Minister Pon Radhakrishnan said Rao had brought discredit to the late chief minister Jayalalithaa, by saying the raids at his home and office would not have occurred had she been alive.
Published 27 December 2016, 19:42 IST