New Delhi, Oct. 29 -- The Union finance ministry on Thursday defended the strategic sale of IDBI Bank to Fairfax Financial Holdings, rejecting allegations of wrongdoing in the processes adopted.

The late-night clarification came following a Business World report which claimed deviations from the government's own rules about disinvestment, and alleged that government officials saw the bids before setting the sale price. Also, the final sale price didn't factor in the share price of the bank, and its valuation was compared with other state-run banks while it's categorized as a private bank, the report said.

On 14 October, the government had announced the sale of a combined 60.72% stake of the government and state-run LIC in IDBI Bank to a...