In an amazing about-turn, CBI told the supreme court (SC) on Wednesday it did not have evidence against SP leader and former Uttar Pradesh (UP) chief minister Mulayam Singh Yadav
NEW DELHI: The Samajwadi Party (SP) seems to be still reaping rewards for supporting the UPA government in the July trust vote. In an amazing about-turn, CBI told the supreme court (SC) on Wednesday it did not have evidence against SP leader and former Uttar Pradesh (UP) chief minister Mulayam Singh Yadav, his MP son Akhilesh and other members of the family in a multi-crore-rupee corruption case.
Analysts, however, say SC need not accept the amended reply, for the CBI is expected to act responsibly at least while dealing with the apex court. The court could monitor the probe as it had done in the Jain Hawala Diaries case involving transactions of millions of rupees among top political leaders, ministers, governors, lawmakers, bureaucrats and cops.
In that case too, CBI and other agencies had expressed inability to apprehend the accused. In October 2007, CBI told SC that “it is submitted that CBI has concluded its preliminary enquiry (PE) and is willing to place the status report before this court for perusal, if necessary.
“It is submitted if a PE by CBI discloses commission of offences by persons concerned (the Mulayam family), a regular case is registered and investigated as per the law”.
Earlier, Mulayam had also moved the apex court saying he doesn’t have faith in CBI.
CBI’s fresh affidavit affirms, “On a considered view of the evidence collected so far, no case is made out… (CBI) would like to withdraw the application seeking permission to lodge an FIR (against Mulayam and Co)”.
Its affidavit last year said it had completed a PE against Mulayam, his sons Akhilesh and Prateek and Akhilesh’s wife Dimple for allegedly amassing assets disproportionate to their known sources of income.
On a petition by Congress leader and lawyer Vishwanath Chaturvedi, the apex court had in October 2007 directed a CBI probe into the allegations. In recent years, Chaturvedi has filed several petitions against the various “corruption scams” in the UP government.
One such petition was against the Lucknow Development Authority for allotting 28 prime plots to politicians and bureaucrats allegedly close to Mulayam at much below the market rate.
Mulayam replied to the plea on February 27, 2007, saying in 1977, he had three bighas of agricultural land, a house in native town Safai and a residential plot in Etawah, together worth Rs79,000. However earlier in 2004, he had accepted before the EC that he owned 14 acres of land in Safai, a plot in Friends Colony, Etawah, Rs25 lakh in bank fixed deposits, and shares worth Rs20 lakh.
Chaturvedi alleged Mulayam part-owned at least four more prime properties with the Bhojwani family in Etawah, but Mulayam said he neither owned the plots nor was he a “business partner” of the Bhojwanis.
He accepted that he owned a 25,000-sq-ft bungalow in Civil Lines, Etawah, for which he paid Rs10.80 lakh and spent Rs22 lakh on renovation. He also admitted to owning a 23,876-sq-ft plot in Mohalla Ramana Dilkhusha, purchased by SP on June 8, 2005, for Rs1.65 crore. Another 10,000-sq-ft prime plot worth Rs55 lakh was owned by his nephew, the late Ranveer Yadav, he said.
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