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Attorney General Goolam E Vahanvati has lodged a complaint with the Delhi Police over a hoax call he received from a woman imitating Congress president Sonia Gandhi. Sources in police said the woman, claiming to be Gandhi and calling from New York, where the Congress president had actually gone for a medical check-up, spoke to the AG about some high profile cases in the Supreme Court.

Union Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde told reporters here that Delhi Police has begun a preliminary inquiry into the call and a case would be registered soon.

Sources in Delhi Police said a woman claiming to be one Anita Gupta, "secretary" to the Congress president, called the AG’s office in the Supreme Court on September 5 and wanted to speak to him.

As the AG was busy with some cases, including the coal blocks allocation case, he couldn’t take the call despite her calling thrice. Finally, she managed to speak to Vahanvati at his residence in the evening. Police inquiries have revealed that the landline phone from where the call allegedly originated is installed in the office of a senior female employee of a public sector undertaking.

After a few days, the AG allegedly received a call from somebody impersonating Sonia Gandhi, who reportedly sounded unhappy over what she said was his handling of several crucial and high profile cases, including those related to coal blocks allocation. Sonia had left for abroad on September 2 and returned on September 11.

Sources in Delhi Police said a team from the Economic Offences Wing visited the AG’s residence and questioned his staff. The police are trying to find out if the hoax call was an attempt to influence the coal blocks allocation case or some other important cases.

"We have received a complaint from the Attorney General and we are conducting a preliminary inquiry into it. As soon as something of public interest comes to light we will inform the press," a Delhi Police spokesperson said.

Addressing the media, BJP national spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad, while replying to a question on the issue, said the party would speak on the issue only after going through all the facts.