Chargesheet against Mayawati in DA case ready, CBI tells SC

New Delhi: The clock has turned full circle for Mayawati, with CBI, ending a brief period of ambiguity, telling the Supreme Court that there was a fit case for prosecution of the UP chief minister in a disproportionate assets case.

In an affidavit, the investigating agency contested Mayawati’s argument that CBI was harassing her despite the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) endorsing her contention that the disproportionate assets she allegedly owned were actually gifts received by her. CBI argued that ITAT findings were based on assumptions and conjectures whereas the evidence collected by the agency was unimpeachable.
In April this year, attorney general G E Vahanvati told the SC that CBI would consider her April 20 representation protesting CBI’s stubbornness in persisting with the DA case against her despite the clean chit from the I-T department. The matter comes up for hearing on Monday.
As is typical of the cases concerning Mayawati, the latest turn in the DA case is being seen through the prism of her equations with the Centre. CBI’s willingness to consider her plea to accept I-T department’s certificate of innocence to her came at a time when Centre needed BSP’s support in the trial of strength with the Opposition over cut motions. On April 27, BSP voted with the UPA against the cut motion brought by BJP and Left.
Its rejection of I-T department’s finding coincides with escalation of tension between Congress and BSP, with Rahul Gandhi joining the protest against police firing on farmers resisting acquisition of land for Mayawati’s dream project Yamuna Expressway.
The renewed hostility between the two sides is also said to be the reason why this time Congress preferred to have an agreement with the BJP to secure the passage of the nuclear liability bill on Wednesday rather than strike deals with BSP, SP and RJD.
Countering Mayawati’s argument, the CBI, in its affidavit before the apex court, argued that ITAT’s finding, which had already been appealed against in the Allahabad High Court, could not be cited as an evidence in a criminal case in which the investigation had been completed and the agency was ready with the chargesheet against her.