SC: CBI free to probe case against Maya

The Supreme Court on Wednesday said the CBI was free to investigate disproportionate assets (DA) case against former UP chief minister Mayawati, but not under the garb of a court order.

The Supreme Court on Wednesday said the CBI was free to investigate disproportionate assets (DA) case against former UP chief minister Mayawati, but not under the garb of a court order.

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A bench of justice P Sathasivam and Justice Dipak Misra further told the CBI that its June 2012 verdict quashing the criminal case did not curtail the agency’s power to conduct the probe.

“The CBI’s power to probe the case against Mayawati has not been taken away by us,” it said. The verdict, court said, wasn’t on the merits of the case but on technical grounds.

Even CBI counsel solicitor general Mohan Parasaran agreed with the court’s observation but requested it to clarify its judgment. “Do you mean to say that it needs to be clarified that the right of CBI to probe was not curtailed by our judgement,” the bench asked Parasaran, reserving its verdict on a review petition filed by on Kamlesh Verma.