SC admits petitions on Mayawati assault case

The SC admitted petitions filed by BSP leaders challenging quashing of charges against SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav and top party leaders in a case relating to an alleged assault on UP CM Mayawati in Lucknow in 1995.

The Supreme Court on Monday admitted petitions filed by BSP leaders challenging quashing of charges against Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav and top party leaders in a case relating to an alleged assault on Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati in Lucknow in 1995.

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A Bench headed by Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan decided to hear in the first week of May the petitions challenging the quashing of charges against Yadav, his brother Shivpal Singh Yadav, Azam Khan, Beni Prasad Verma, Masood Ahmed, Dhani Ram Verma and others for the alleged incident that took place in a guest house.

The petition filed by former Speaker of Uttar Pradesh Assembly Barkhuram Verma and other BSP leaders have challenged the Allahabad High Court decision quashing some charges against Yadav and others under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and the Prevention of Corruption Act (PCA).

The allegation under the PCA was that Yadav and his supporters made a bid to break BSP by luring away its MLA while under the SC/ST Act, the Samajwadi Party leaders were accused of using abusive and caste-based language against Mayawati.

Senior advocate K K Venuopal and state's Additional Advocate General Shail Kumar Dwivedi submitted that since the matter was serious it should be given an expeditious hearing.