An Enforcement Directorate official who led the investigation in the 2G spectrum scam has criticised Revenue Secretary Hasmukh Adhia, asking him if he “developed animosity against him by siding with scamsters and their affiliates”, PTI reported.

A letter dated June 11 by the Enforcement Directorate joint director Rajeshwar Singh to Adhia became public on Wednesday, when the Supreme Court said the Centre was free to decide whether to investigate the charges against Singh. The court had earlier given Singh protection from any action against him.

Singh had filed a criminal contempt plea in the top court last week claiming “vested interests” were trying to derail the inquiry into the Aircel-Maxis case. He filed the plea against a petitioner who had accused him of holding assets disproportionate to his income.

In his letter to Adhia, Rajeshwar Singh said all his appraisal reports in the last 20 years, written by more than 50 senior officers, had uniformly rated his performance as “outstanding”. “Why do you disregard their opinion?” he asked Adhia. “Is it possible for me to have managed all of them over a period of time?”

He said: “It pained me further that you have expressed many a times to senior officers over casual conversations that I have been manipulating the judiciary, especially the Supreme Court of India. It is strange and also unbelievable that after so many years in public service, you believe that so many judges can be manipulated and that too over such a long period of time.”

Singh said he had sought a personal meeting from Adhia to explain his side, but the request was not granted. “...what thoroughly baffles the undersigned, is the animosity you have fashioned against me by siding with scamsters and their affiliates in a sustained manner,” he said in the letter. “It has become more than difficult for me to survive this continued onslaught and persistent vilification from all the quarters for doing my job.”

Singh also said there was no progress on his promotion for more than seven months. He said claimed that efforts were also being made to ensure that the investigation in crucial cases that he is handling are derailed. “May I beg to ask if you are compromising on larger aspects of our national interest to set scores on an ego trip that is absolutely uncontested from my side,” he added.