Supreme Court notice to CBI in disproportionate assets case against former UP CMs Mulayam, Akhilesh Yadav

The Supreme Court on Monday, March 25, directed CBI to apprise it of the status of probe in alleged disproportionate assets case against SP leaders and former Uttar Pradesh Chief Ministers Mulayam Singh Yadav and his son Akhilesh.

A bench comprising Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justice Deepak Gupta rejected the vehement submission of the counsel for Yadavs that the notice to the CBI on the plea be kept at abeyance in the wake of upcoming general elections.

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The top court, which asked the probe agency to file a report within two weeks, said that "there was a status report (of 2007 by CBI) saying that prima facie case is made out. We are entitled to know as to what happened to the investigation".

Rejecting the plea of senior advocate C A Sundaram, appearing for the Samajwadi Party (SP) patriarch and his two sons -- Akhilesh and Prateek, the bench said, "Why should we not ask CBI as to what happened in terms of orders issued in 2007...We would like to know the status of the probe".

The senior lawyer opposed the plea of petitioner and Congress leader Vishwanath Chaturvedi saying it is going to be used politically ahead of the general elections next month.

Chaturvedi, in his fresh plea, has sought a direction to the CBI to place the status report on probe either before the apex court or before a magisterial court in the assets case against the three SP leaders. 

Chaturvedi, in 2005, had filed the PIL in the top court seeking a direction to the CBI to take appropriate action to prosecute Yadav, Akhilesh and his wife Dimple, and Prateek under the Prevention of Corruption Act for allegedly acquiring assets more than the known source of their income by misusing their power of authority.

The apex court in its verdict of March 1, 2007 had directed the CBI "to enquire into allegations" and find out as to as to whether the plea with regard to disproportionate assets of SP leaders was "correct or not".

In 2012, the court had dismissed the review petitions of Yadav and his sons against its verdict and directed the CBI to go ahead with the probe against them in the disproportionate assets case.

It had allowed the review plea of Dimple and directed the CBI to drop the inquiry against her saying that she was not holding any public office. The court had also modified its March 1, 2007 order and asked the CBI to file the status report before the court, not the government.

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Chaturvedi, in his fresh plea, said, "Despite the yawning gap between the complaint made/court's directions and the pendency of filing of a regular Case in this matter, an unusually long period as already escaped without any action being taken on the matter for 11 long years".

The matter was still pending with the CBI for registration of a regular case, it said.

Till date, no FIR has been registered against the Yadavs and it has not only caused "some irremediable and irrecoverable damaged to the whole case, but also raised serious questions of credibility and integrity of our investigating agencies", the plea said.

The CBI is duty bound to register a regular case as mandated by the provisions of law and also report the FIR to the jurisdictional magistrate as mandatory and provided by procedure law, it said.

Referring to the CBI's earlier status report, the fresh plea said that the report indicated that disproportionate assets were possessed not only by Mulayam Singh Yadav, Akhilesh and Prateek but also by Dimple Yadav.

On the basis of Income Tax Returns and reliable documents of the Yadav family members, the disproportionate assets were calculated at Rs 2.63 crore, it said.