DHAKA: A scandal that initially landed former French leader Nicolas Sarkozy in hot water has boomeranged on to the Socialist government which now stands accused of ‘political espionage’ and threatens a star minister.

Several leading members of France’s right-wing opposition, itself reeling from a string of corruption cases allegedly implicating Sarkozy and several others, have called for the resignation of justice minister Christiane Taubira over the affair.

The scandal centers on explosive revelations Friday that Sarkozy is being probed over suspicions he attempted to pervert the course of justice by trying to obtain secret information about an ongoing court case from a friendly judge.

According to Le Monde newspaper, judges allegedly obtained the information as they had tapped the phones of Sarkozy and his lawyer over a separate probe into allegations the late Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi had helped finance his 2007 election campaign.

BDST: 1911 HRS, MAR 12, 2014