Tactical delay

Even as the media was selectively leaked the details of the disproportionate assets case against Mayawati, it was made sure that the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister’s lawyer was kept unaware about the details of the case, thanks to some enterprising thinking on the part of the CBI. As is required by procedure, the defending party has to be served a copy of the notice before the matter comes up for hearing in court. Mayawati’s lawyer, the advocate general of Uttar Pradesh, has a chamber in the Supreme Court and all that the CBI had to do was to deliver a copy there. Instead, the CBI decided to send the copy to his Lucknow address through registered post even when the advocate general was himself in Delhi. When he came to know of it, the lawyer rushed to the Supreme Court post office to claim the document, but in vain. This ensured that the defendants would not be able to see the copy for another couple of days.