Union Home Minister P Chidambaram has slapped a legal notice on CPI MLA Gunasekaran demanding an apology from him for making the allegation that the Union minister had supported allocation of 500 acres of government land to a private company in his constituency Sivaganga.

"It is a total lie to say that 500 acres of land has been gifted to a private company. Some political parties are accustomed to reeling out lies and false charges for the sake of politics. My name has been dragged unnecessarily over an issue between the government and a private firm," Chidambaram told reporters yesterday while announcing the action.