There was campaign by vested interests: Moily

Veerappa Moily, who was shifted from Law Ministry to the Corporate Affairs Ministry, on Tuesday said he had been a victim of "campaign by vested interests" for his reform agenda and the "fault of administrative ministries" was wrongly sought to be attributed to him.

Showing signs of frustration hours after the reshuffle, he said he had undertaken a series of reforms in the Law Ministry and schemes worth Rs 21,000 crore were under implementation. He insisted that he had not been "slighted" and said the new assignment was a challenge for him and he would turn it into an opportunity by carrying out reforms through "fast, inclusive justice" in the corporate world.

"There has been a campaign by the vested interests. They knew reform was not pleasant to everybody, which I can't help. I have to do this in the best interest of the country," Moily told reporters here when asked whether he had been at the receiving end. "All these cases which we fail, it is the fault of the administrative ministry. It has got nothing to do with us. We are only the face in the court," he said.

He did not specify but was apparently referring to the flak faced by the government from the judiciary in cases like 2G scam, blackmoney and salwa judum. "For the sins of some other ministries, the Law Minister cannot be hanged," Moily asserted.