A day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi told the CBI that no corrupt person should be spared, Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal on Tuesday claimed that the conviction of the corrupt was higher during the UPA rule and asked who is "protecting" those indulging in graft.

Addressing a gathering at the diamond jubilee celebrations of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Modi on Monday said there is today no dearth of political will to act against corruption and officers should take action against the corrupt, however powerful, without any hesitation.

In a tweet, Sibal said, "PM to CBI: Don't spare the corrupt. March 2016: Jitendra Singh told Parliament: 2013: 1136 persons convicted for corruption, 2014: 993, 2015:878, 2016: 71. Conviction of the corrupt higher during UPA!" "Men may lie but facts do not lie. Who is protecting the corrupt? said Sibal, who was a Union minister during the UPA 1 and 2 governments at the Centre.

Sibal quit the Congress in May last year and was elected to the Rajya Sabha as an independent member with the Samajwadi Party's support. He recently floated a non-electoral platform 'Insaaf' aimed at fighting injustice.

In his remarks Tuesday, Modi had said those who benefitted from corruption for decades have created an ecosystem that attacks probe agencies. "But the agencies should not be deterred by stories about the power of the corrupt and their ecosystem to tarnish them," he said.

"These people will keep distracting you, but you have to focus on your work. No corrupt person should be spared. There should be no laxity in our efforts. This is the wish of the country, this is the wish of the people of the country. The country, law and Constitution are with you," the prime minister said.

Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by The Telegraph Online staff and has been published from a syndicated feed.