New Delhi, Oct. 17 -- The Union Finance Ministry on Saturday clarified that there is no legal restriction under the IDBI (Repeal) Act, 2003, preventing the government from reducing or selling its stake in IDBI Bank, citing a 2018 Delhi High Court judgment that upheld the Centre's authority to dilute its shareholding.

The clarification comes days after the government approved the sale of a 60.72 per cent stake in IDBI Bank to Canada's Fairfax Financial Holdings for Rs 52,878 crore on October 14. The transaction involves the sale of 30.48 per cent stake held by the government and 30.24 per cent held by Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC).

In a statement issued on Saturday, the Finance Ministry said certain media reports had raised q...