CBI clears Shinde, to close case against Mulayam too

In Mulayam’s case, top sources said on Thursday that after scrutinising all possible angles and due to ‘lack of evidence’, the agency has come to the conclusion that the allegations which were levelled against Yadav could not be substantiated. Yadav was alleged to have amassed disproportionate assets to the tune of Rs 2.63 crores. The agency sources said that it could not be ascertained because most of the assets, both movable and immovable, pertained to Akhilesh Yadav’s wife Dimple Yadav.

The Supreme Court had ruled in December last year that the CBI investigation could not include Dimple Yadav’s assets because she was not a public official at the time when Mulayam Singh was the chief minister. On this, the prosecution lawyer on Thursday even filed a new petition asking the SC to include Akhilesh Yadav’s wife Dimple Yadav in the investigation.

Meanwhile, in Shinde’s case, the CBI on Thursday informed the Bombay high court that there is no evidence to suggest that Shinde, during his tenure as Maharashtra chief minister, abused his position as a public servant. This was stated by the probe agency in an affidavit filed by it in reply to an application submitted by social activist Pravin Wategaonkar, seeking that Shinde be included as an accused in the case, as he allegedly owns benami flats in the plush 31-storey Adarsh building in south Mumbai.

‘CBI does not feel it legally necessary to name Sushilkumar Shinde as an accused person in the ongoing investigation being carried out by it,’ the affidavit states.