NEW DELHI, Apr 13: The Supreme Court today agreed to hear a former BSP member’s plea seeking registration of a fresh FIR against party supremo and former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati for allegedly amassing disproportionate assets.
However, Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for CBI, told the court about the stand of the probe agency that Mayawati has been cleared by Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) and the Delhi High Court.
The ITAT had probed donations allegedly received by the BSP leader.
A bench of Justices A R Dave and A K Goel said it would not pass any immediate order in the case but would later hear in detail the petition filed by former BSP member Kamlesh Verma.
During a brief hearing, Rohatgi said the wealth case against the BSP supremo had nothing to do with the pending Taj Heritage Corridor case.
“Issue of donations to Mayawati had been heard by ITAT and she had been given clean chit in each case. We don’t have any other material. So why should we go on registering another FIR,” the top law officer said.
At the outset, senior advocate K K Venugopal, appearing for Mayawati, said this case was politically motivated as the petitioner was out for vendetta after being denied a ticket to contest elections.
“He (Verma) did not get a BSP ticket. He lost on a Congress ticket. Since then, he is carrying out a vendetta against Mayawati,” Venugopal said.
To this, the court said, “How are we concerned with that? We have to look into the facts. We cannot overlook if there is some substance being brought before us by the petitioner.”
The apex court, on August 26, 2014, had granted time to the BSP supremo to file her reply on Verma’s plea, seeking direction to CBI to lodge a fresh FIR against her.
The court, which had quashed a disproportionate assets (DA) case against Mayawati on a technical ground in August 2013, had however questioned CBI as to why it did not lodge a fresh FIR in the case.
It had said that CBI should have got proper advice on registration of a fresh case against her after the FIR was quashed. (PTI)
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