In a series of four tweets that add up to an open declaration of war against Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, the former Indian Premier League commissioner Lalit Modi has threatened to take the Enforcement Directorate to court for engaging in a "witch hunt" against him.

Earlier this week, the ED had said it intended to serve notice on Modi in a case involving allegations of money laundering. The summons could not be served, however, as Modi's Mumbai-based lawyer refused to accept it on his client's behalf, insisting that the agency serve the notice to Modi in London.

The first of Modi's four tweets said that he was yet to receive the ED's summons:

Modi's second tweet quotes the former Interpol chief, Ron Noble, as refuting earlier ED claims that a blue-cornered notice had been served:

His third tweet repeats a demand he has made earlier that other IPL administrators, including Jaitley and Congress leader Rajiv Shukla, must also be probed for the same foreign exchange offence that he, as IPL commissioner, is being solely held responsible for:

In his fourth tweet, Lalit Modi descends to name-calling and abuse against Jaitley as well as the former Finance Minister, P. Chidambaram:

Having upped the ante in this manner, it is apparent that Lalit Modi has no intention of serving himself up for interrogation by the ED. Nor is he likely to make it easy for the Narendra Modi government - under fire for having helped him acquire residency rights in the UK - to redeem its reputation by tightening the legal screws on him.

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