CBI refuses to close graft case against Mayawati

Spelling trouble for Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati, the CBI on Monday told the Supreme Court that the disproportionate assets case against her could not be closed on the basis of the clearance given by the Income Tax department.

Spelling trouble for Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati, the CBI on Monday told the Supreme Court that the disproportionate assets case against her could not be closed on the basis of the clearance given by the Income Tax department.

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In an affidavit filed in the SC, the CBI said Mayawati's October 25, 2010, representation for closing the disproportionate assets case was "duly considered" and was found to be having no bearing on the findings of the criminal investigation against her.

The affidavit has come in connection with Mayawati's plea for quashing of the CBI case. She had earlier charged the CBI with acting in a hostile manner by adopting a different yardstick in her case than that in cases against Mulayam Singh Yadav and Lalu Prasad. "The CBI can not discriminate between two individuals merely on the basis of its whims or choice," she had said seeking the quashing the CBI FIR.

She had said after being absolved of misappropriating Rs 17 crore disbursed for the Taj Corridor project and having been cleared by IT authorities, the CBI was wrong in proceeding against her in the DA case. The CBI claimed it had cogent oral, documentary and circumstantial evidence to prove a criminal nexus between the income of Mayawati and her relatives and 'donors'.