DA case: SC agrees to hear plea against Maya

The Supreme Court on Wednesday agreed to hear a former Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) member’s plea, seeking registration of a fresh FIR against party supremo and former UP Chief Minister Mayawati for allegedly amassing assets disproportionate to her known sources of income.

However, Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for the 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 AR Dave and AK 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.

“The issue of donations to Mayawati had been heard by ITAT and she had been given a clean chit in each case. We don’t have any other material. So why should we go on registering another FIR,” he said.

At the outset, senior advocate KK Venugopal, appearing for Mayawati, said the 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,” he 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.”