A central government lawyer today objected in the Delhi High Court to former Finance Minister P Chidambaram appearing for MIAL in its plea against collection of service tax on grounds of conflict of interest.
The issue was raised before a bench of justices Badar Durrez Ahmed and Sanjeev Sachdeva by central government standing counsel Anil Soni, who argued that the decision to collect the tax from Mumbai International Airport Ltd (MIAL), which manages the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport, was made by the Finance Ministry in 2007-08 by considering MIAL as a franchisee.
He said the then government had considered MIAL as a franchisee as per the Operation Management and Development Agreement (OMDA), which was approved by a Group of Ministers in 2006 of which Chidambaram was a part in his capacity as FM.
The bench, however, observed it "makes no difference", saying Chidambaram was appearing in a professional capacity.
The court also asked whether once a person becomes a minister can he not appear in any legal matter.
Soni responded that as a matter of propriety, the former Union Minister should not have appeared in the matter.
Chidambaram opposed the argument of the government counsel saying the Additional Solicitor Generals (ASGs), who had appeared in the matter in the past, had not raised the issue.
No further hearing was conducted in the matter, thereafter, and the plea was listed for arguments on October 28.
