Salman Khurshid said the arrest of P Chidambaram is deeply distressing.
Senior Congress leader Salman Khurshid on Thursday said their party is confident that there is no case against P Chidambaram, the former finance minister who was arrested by the Central bureau of Investigation (CBI) yesterday. He is accused of facilitating foreign investment into a television company, INX Media, in 2007.
"It is deeply distressing that all that happened (arrest). The matter is listed for hearing on Friday. They could have waited until then to see what the Supreme Court wants to do. We are very confident that there is no case against Chidambaram," Mr Khurshid told news agency ANI.
Mr Chidambaram, one of the key ministers during the 10 years of UPA regime, was taken to the headquarters of the probe agency after a dramatic arrest from his home in south Delhi by officials who climbed a wall in their attempts to get to him.
Mr Khurshid slammed the ruling BJP for orchestrating the arrest.
"This is being done by a government that claims to have come to power in the name of the rights of the citizens," the Congress leader said.
"Let the people judge whether this is the kind of legal system we want to support. All that talk about emergency and taking away people's rights, what meaning does it have if this is how they are going to proceed," he added.
Mr Chidambaram and his son Karti Chidambaram were named by INX co-founders Peter and Indrani Mukerjea, who are currently in jail in connection with the murder of Indrani Mukerjea's daughter Sheena Bora. Mr Chidambaram and his son have denied the allegations.
"A seasoned man with 40 years of dedication to public life has been arrested on the statement of a jailed woman who is being charged of murdering her own daughter," Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said at a press conference today, referring to Indrani Mukerjea.
Other Congress leaders also rallied behind the former finance minister. Rahul Gandhi called the investigative agencies' pursuit of the senior leader a "disgraceful misuse of power" and his sister Priyanka Gandhi said Mr Chidambaramwas being "shamefully hunted down".
Union Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi in reply said the Congress party was synonymous to corruption.
"This is the tale of corrupt leaders. There is nothing new here. Congress and corruption are synonymous with each other. They are made for each other. The law agencies are doing their job, where do the government, political vendetta and prejudice come into this," Mr Naqvi said.
The BJP leader urged the people to leave the matter up to the court.
"How can you determine who is the culprit and who is innocent. Let the court of law make that decision," he added.
(With Inputs From ANI)