Asking the Congress to fight the National Herald case legally and not disrupt parliament, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Thursday took a dig at Congress president Sonia Gandhi, saying India "has never accepted the diktat that the queen is not answerable to law".
He said Congress leaders have to find a way out of the 'chakravyuh' that is their own creation.
"No one is above the law. India has never accepted the diktat that the queen is not answerable to law," Jaitley said in a Facebook post.
He said neither the government nor parliament could help the Congress in this matter.
"By a series of financial transactions, leaders of the Congress created a 'chakravyuh' for themselves. They have to (now) find their own exit route out of the 'chakravyuh'," Jaitley said.
"The answer to the Congress leadership landing up in a 'chakravyuh' is to fight their battle legally and not disrupt parliament. By disrupting democracy, the financial web created by the Congress leaders cannot be undone," he added.
Denying the Congress charge of political vendetta, he said calling it so was tantamount to a charge against courts.
"They (Congress leadership) have acquired properties worth huge amounts without spending anything. They have used tax-exempted income for a non-exempted purpose. They have transferred the income of a political party to another company. They have created huge taxable income in favour of the second company," he said.
Jaitley said the government so far has not taken any punitive action in the case.
"The Enforcement Directorate has not issued any notice. The Income Tax authorities will follow their own procedure."
"The government has passed no order in relation to the disputed transactions," he clarified.
"Why then disturb parliament and prevent legislative activity from continuing? They can either challenge the order in the Supreme Court or appear before the trial court and contest the case on merits," Jaitley said.
The continuing confrontation between the Congress and the government on Thursday saw the main opposition party forcing repeated adjournments in the Rajya Sabha over the National Herald case and a walkout in the Lok Sabha to demand a BJP member's suspension over his "objectionable remarks".
The verbal sparring between the two sides continued for the third day outside parliament as well.
