Centre seeks AGs view on Maya DA case

The DoPT first sought an update from the CBI on the case and,on its receipt,asked for AGs opinion.

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The wheel has come full circle in the Disproportionate Assets DA case against UP Chief Minister Mayawati with the Centre asking Attorney General Goolam Vahanvati for his opinion on her plea for quashing what she has called a politically motivated exercise.

The opinion of the AG who appeared in the case in the Supreme Court as Solicitor General has been sought following a fresh,detailed plea by the CM to the Department of Personnel and Training. The DoPT first sought an update from the CBI on the case and,on its receipt,asked for AGs opinion.

CBI officials said they told the DoPT that their probe in the 2003 case had been wrapped up and that,in 2008,they got authorisation to file a chargesheet,but could not as Mayawati moved the SC asking for the case to be quashed.

The CBI has given a similar status report on the DA case to the Settlement Commission,where Mayawati and her relatives have reportedly filed pleas seeking a financial settlement and,as a result,immunity from prosecution.

In her pleas,Mayawati has argued that she was eligible for relief since she got a favourable ruling from the Income Tax Appellete Tribunal,but the CBI has said that proceedings under the Income Tax Act and before the Settlement Commission had no bearing on their DA case.

The CBI has told the SC that it has cogent,credible and admissible evidence against Mayawati. And has questioned the meteoric rise in Mayawatis declared wealth from Rs 1 crore in 2003 to over Rs 50 crore in 2007.

As reported by The Indian Express,the CBI has listed 74 properties and deposits in 54 bank accounts owned by Mayawati and her relatives. It has also listed 307 dubious donations made to her and expensive cash gifts she received in her first tenure as CM.

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Mayawatis lawyers have argued that the assets of her relatives should not be clubbed with hers and that the donations were given to her over years by the poor people of UP and party workers.