CBI free to register fresh DA case against Maya, says SC

Underlining that it had never prohibited the CBI from lodging any fresh corruption cases against Mayawati after obtaining due sanction in law, the Supreme Court on Tuesday issued notices to the BSP chief, Centre and the probe agency on the limited issue of clarifying its July verdict whereby it had quashed a disproportionate assets case against her.

The court had on July 6 quashed the nine-year-long case while pulling up the CBI for exceeding its jurisdiction and lodging an FIR against Mayawati without its direction and proper understanding its orders. As per the court, its order was confined to the Taj Corridor case, which related to release of Rs 17 crore by the Uttar Pradesh government allegedly without sanction.

Hearing the review plea by one Kamlesh Verma, a Bench led by Justice P Sathasivam told his counsel that despite repeatedly going through the previous orders passed by the court, there was nothing to hold that the apex court ever asked the CBI to conduct an investigation into this assets case.

However, the Bench added, that its order also did not mean that there was a prohibition on the CBI to register a fresh case after procuring sanction for prosecution from the state or central government.

"We never said CBI has no power to investigate but it has to get sanction from the government. What you have pleaded before us is that this court ordered for investigation but we have been unable to trace any such order. There is no prohibition for the CBI to lodge a fresh case and approach the government for a sanction," the Bench told senior counsel Shanti Bhushan, who appeared for Verma.

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