New Delhi: Question: Did you know the lawyer?
A Raja: As a minister many people may be knowing me that does not mean I know them.
This was how a rattled telecom minister denied that he had pressured a High Court judge through the lawyer defending two people accused in a criminal case.
His name was made public by his party DMK's chief rival Jayalalitha earlier this month.
And on Friday, a united Opposition met the PM with a memorandum demanding action. The judge, Justice R Reghupathy, had said the minister did not talk to him but the lawyer of the accused called the minister on his phone.
The BJP and the Left were on the same side as over 180 MPs. asked the Prime Minister to make a statement in Parliament.
"We have asked the PM to intervene," said Arun Jaitley, the Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha.
Madras High Court judge R Regupati, who made the allegations in an open court, has not named the minister. And the Chief Justice of India, who had condemned the incident, has clarified that the Telecom Minister had not spoken to the judge directly.
This may give the government a chance to wriggle out of an embarrassing situation.