New Delhi: In yet another setback for Bahujan Samajwadi Party (BSP) supremo, the Supreme Court on Wednesday agreed to hear petition registration of fresh FIR by CBI against Mayawati in disproportionate assets case.
The move comes in the wake of Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, scheduled to take place next year.
Mayawati's lawyer KK Venugopal today urged the Supreme Court to dismiss the plea by one Kamlesh Verma alleging that the latter was a former member of BSP and the petition filed by him is nothing but a political vendetta against the BSP leader.
During the hearing today, CBI told the top court that wealth case against Mayawati has nothing to do with pending Taj Heritage Corridor case and she had been given clean chit by Income Tax department as well as Delhi High Court.
"There is no evidence to pursue the disproportionate assets case against Mayawati further and hence, there's no point of registering another FIR on the matter" CBI reportedly told the court.
Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi, representing the Centre, also backed CBI's stand on the matter and told the top court that Mayawati has been given clean chit by Income Tax department, which had investigated donations made to her by the party workers.
The former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister has been accused of assets that are disproportionate to her income. Her declared income rose drastically from Rs 1 crore in 2003 to Rs 50 crore in 2007.
However, Mayawati claimed that the money was received through donations over the years from party workers on her birthdays. Some of these donations, as she claimed, were as tiny as Rs 5.
