Relief for Mayawati, SC quashes DA case

In a major relief for BSP chief Mayawati, the Supreme Court today quashed CBI probe against her saying there is no material evidence against the former chief minister in a case where she was accused of obtaining financial assets illegally. The Supreme Court today said that in 2003 when it asked CBI to look into Taj corridor case it did not ask the agency to probe disproportionate assets of Mayawati and the investigating agency had proceeded without understanding the court’s order, CNN IBN reported. [caption id=“attachment_369374” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Mayawati had filed a petition in May 2008 seeking to quash the criminal proceedings against her in the DA case, lodged by the CBI over eight years ago.PTI[/caption] The court said that the framing of the case by the investigating agency was unwarranted,  noting that it had only asked the CBI to strictly look into the Rs 17 crore which was meant for the Taj corridor. There is no finding and no material report pertaining to a disproportionate assets case against Mayawati, the court noted. We are satisfied that we didn’t issue any direction to probe alleged disproportionate assets of Mayawati between 1995-2003, it said. “We all welcome the Supreme Court’s verdict today…The CBI had filed an FIR under pressure from the BJP government in 2003. The SC noted that the FIR filed in 2003 was without jurisdiction and was illegal,”  Satish Mishra, BSP leader and lawyer, told reporters after the verdict was announced. The court has held that the CBI has exceeded its jurisdiction and has struck down the entire investigation, he said. “The SC has clearly indicted the CBI by saying it had exceeded its jurisdiction,” Mishra said. Mayawati had filed a petition in May 2008 seeking to quash the criminal proceedings against her in the DA case, lodged by the CBI over eight years ago. She had alleged it was an act of political vendetta against her. A bench headed by P Sathasivam had reserved its judgment on 1 May after a two-hour-long hearing during which the former Uttar Pradesh chief minister had accused the CBI of “fixing” the DA case against her, a charge refuted by the agency. Mayawati had said the bench should direct the CBI to consider the aspect of order passed by the Income Tax Tribunal holding that her income was genuine and the order had also been upheld by the Delhi High Court. The CBI had said there was “ample evidence” to show that she had amassed wealth disproportionate to her known sources of income. Mayawati had claimed she had received the money as donations from party workers. Questioning Mayawati’s assets, the CBI had said her declared assets of Rs one crore in 2003 had gone up to Rs 50 crore in 2007. The CBI, in its last affidavit filed on 13 September, 2011, had alleged there was a “criminal nexus” between Mayawati and her relatives and the disproportionate assets case against her cannot be closed on the basis of conclusions arrived at by the Income Tax Department. The agency had rejected Mayawati’s stand that the DA case should come to an end after the income tax authorities accepted her income tax assessments. With inputs from PTI