NEW DELHI: Former Finance Minister P. Chidambaram rubbished allegations of vendetta by Lalit Modi and said the government should ensure that the former IPL chief returns to India to face a corruption investigation against him, NDTV reported.

“The government must use its authority to ensure that Lalit Modi faces charges in India,” he said.

The senior Congress leader reacted sharply to Lalit Modi’s allegation that he was hounded by the UPA government and that his passport was wrongly impounded.

“The Enforcement Directorate (ED) had issued show cause notices and summons to Lalit Modi but he did not respond. ED briefed me that he was staying in Britain without a valid passport.

“ED requested me to take up the matter of Lalit Modi with my British counterpart, George Osborne, which I did after consultations with the Cabinet,” he said. He questioned why the government, despite his repeated demands, was not releasing his letters to Osborne, asking that Lalit Modi be sent back to India.

In an interview, Lalit Modi had alleged vendetta by the UPA after his revelations forced Congress leader Shashi Tharoor’s resignation as minister in 2010.

Lalit Modi tweeted later on Wednesday that Chidambaram had illegally canceled his passport while the high court gave it back to him.

Chidambaram also attacked Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj, saying her conduct in facilitating travel papers for Lalit Modi raised several questions.

“If Swaraj wanted to help Lalit Modi as a humanitarian gesture as was being claimed, why did she not write to the Indian high Commission and ask for the issue of Indian travel documents to him instead of recommending US travel documents?” he said.