CBI not to file review petition in Mayawati assets case

The CBI has decided not to challenge the Supreme Court order, through a review petition, quashing the alleged disproportionate assets case against former UP Chief Minister Mayawati.

The agency has decided not to file any review petition after receiving legal opinion from its Directorate of Prosecution, which said the option would not be feasible, CBI sources said.

The Supreme Court on July 6 had quashed a nine-year-long disproportionate assets case against her and pulled up the CBI for exceeding its jurisdiction by lodging an FIR against her without any direction from it.

The Supreme Court had said the case against Ms. Mayawati was “unwarranted” and the agency proceeded against her without properly understanding its orders, which were confined to the Taj Corridor case relating to the release of Rs 17 crore by U.P. government allegedly without sanction.

A bench of Justices P. Sathasivam and Deepak Mishra said that various Supreme Court orders pertained to initiating a probe against state government officials in the scam and there was no such direction to lodge another FIR “exclusively” against Ms. Mayawati for allegedly amassing assets disproportionate to her known sources of income.

“We hold that in the absence of any specific direction from this court in the order dated September 18, 2003 or any subsequent orders, the CBI has exceeded its jurisdiction in lodging the FIR,” the bench had said, adding, “the impugned FIR is without jurisdiction and any investigation pursuant thereto is illegal and liable to be quashed, accordingly quashed.”