New Delhi: Congress leader Shashi Tharoor has called upon Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla to take cognisance of the “flagrant violation of rules” by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) after it allegedly seized “highly confidential” personal notes and papers pertaining to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Information and Technology from MP Karti Chidambaram.While Tharoor heads the said committee as chairman, Chidambaram is one of its members. Tharoor has submitted a privilege notice to the speaker.Chidambaram himself had earlier sought the intervention of the Lok Sabha speaker, accusing the CBI of violating his parliamentary privileges in connection with the investigation into the alleged cash-for-visa scam in which he is named as an accused. He had also specifically impressed upon the speaker that during a raid, CBI officers had seized “highly confidential” documents pertaining to the parliamentary committee, of which he was a member.Tharoor, in his letter dated May 29, said that “all deliberations and proceedings of the committee are, as per the rules of the procedure, to be treated as confidential till such time as it is presented before the House.” He said such rules were “blatantly disregarded” during the raid at Chidambaram’s house.The committee chairman also said that “several key papers relating to the committee’s deliberations were seized, including highly confidential notes maintained by the member for the purposes of questioning witnesses, examination of evidence and so on…”He also said the raids in themselves raised “serious questions concerning the brazen appropriation of investigative agencies by the executive and their subsequent misuse to target political opponents of the current ruling dispensation.”Tharoor’s letter comes a day after fellow Congress leader and the leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, had lodged a complaint with the speaker against what he called the “targeted harassment” of Chidambaram through government agencies and sought the protection of his parliamentary privileges.“In this regard, I may like to cite the case of Karti P. Chidambaram (MP). He and his family are being selectively targeted in the name of ‘so called’ raid and investigation. The CBI is intimidating him and worse, they have seized confidential and sensitive parliamentary papers,” Chowdhury had said.“This is nothing but intimidation and an attempt by the government to stifle the voice of the opposition in Parliament. Such targeted intimidation of a Member of Parliament amounts to breach of privilege,” Chowdhury had added.Also read: CBI Files Fresh Case Against Karti Chidambaram, Alleges He Facilitated Visas of Chinese NationalsThe CBI registered a first information report (FIR) on May 14 against Chidambaram and others on allegations of a bribe of Rs 50 lakh paid to him and his close associate, S. Bhaskararaman, in 2011 by a top executive of Vedanta group company Talwandi Sabo Power Ltd (TSPL), which was setting a power plant in Punjab for the re-issuance of project visas for 263 Chinese workers employed there.Project visas are a special type of visa introduced in 2010 for the power and steel sector for which detailed guidelines were issued during his father, P. Chidambaram’s tenure as Union home minister. According to the CBI, there is no provision for the re-issuance of project visas.After the FIR was registered, CBI teams conducted coordinated search operations at 10 locations in various cities in the country, including residences of the Chidambarams in Chennai and Delhi. It arrested Chidambaram’s associate Bhaskararaman in connection with the case.Chidambaram has secured interim protection from arrest from a special court at Rouse Avenue in Delhi. His anticipatory bail plea will be heard on Friday, June 3.(With PTI inputs)