Congress on Wednesday backed former finance minister and party leader P Chidambaram against whom the Enforcement Directorate has issued a lookout notice in INX media case.
Taking to Twitter, the party hit out at the Centre stating, a government that persecutes its citizens for speaking truth to power is only "reiterating its own cowardly nature".
The party vowed to stand by Chidambaram and said he is one of the most respected and qualified leaders of the country.
"P Chidambaram is an extremely qualified and respected leader, he has served this nation with dedication and humility. We stand by his quest for truth no matter what," the Congress tweeted.
Party general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra also came out in support of Chidambaram and said: "An extremely qualified and respected member of the Rajya Sabha, P Chidambaram ji has served our nation with loyalty for decades including as Finance Minister and Home Minister. He unhesitatingly speaks truth to power and exposes the failures of this government, but the truth is inconvenient to cowards so he is being shamefully hunted down."
Earlier in the day, the Supreme Court gave no relief to the Congress leader. His plea seeking pre-arrest bail in the case was put before Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi to consider for urgent listing.
A three-judge bench headed by Justice NV Ramana heard the Special Leave Petition (SLP) filed by Chidambaram against the Delhi High Court order which dismissed his anticipatory bail plea in the case.
The SLP was filed by the Congress leader against the High Court order which dismissed his anticipatory bail plea in cases filed by the CBI and the ED.
While rejecting Chidambaram's anticipatory bail, the High Court had called the INX Media case filed by the CBI and the ED as a "classic case of money laundering" and Chidambaram a "key conspirator in the case".
( With inputs from ANI )