Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati’s latest declaration that she has Rs 52-crore assets comes when a CBI case of disproportionate assets (DA) against her involving just over half that figure, Rs 28 crore, has been in deep freeze. And her relatives involved in the case have been offered an exit route.

The case was finalized by the end of 2004 when the CBI, in a 15-page report to the Supreme Court, gave a list of assets frozen or detected (see box). But the agency is yet to seek sanction in the case for her prosecution.

With UP Governor refusing the CBI sanction in the Taj corridor case, no one in the agency is guessing what the next step will be. Indicating that there may be another delay, a top CBI official told The Indian Express today: “If something fresh has come by way of a asset declaration, we will like to have a look at it and may take it into consideration...we will make an assessment of the assets ourselves.”

Even as her DA case was in its final stage, the CBI witnessed a change of guard. It was in the tenure of its present director, Vijay Shankar, that Mayawati was allowed to present her case before the CBI where she is understood to have argued that her assets should be separated from those owned by her relatives. Last heard, CBI bosses had not taken a view on her plea.

Meanwhile, Mayawati’s relatives approached the Settlement Commission which has the powers to grant immunity from prosecution if the accused declare their assets and pay penalties. When the CBI approached the Settlement Commission for details of applications of Mayawati’s relatives — about a dozen applications were filed — they were told this was confidential.

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