SC junks CBI Maya probe

The court pointed to how the CBI interpreted a September 18,2003 order for investigation into the Taj Corridor scam as a green signal to embark on a no-holds-barred investigation into Mayawati’s assets for the period between 1995 to 2003. All this,disregarding the fact that Mayawati was not even a party before the Supreme Court in the Taj Corridor case at the time.

The judgment stated how the CBI lodged two FIRs on the same day (October 5,2003) on the strength of the single SC order— one FIR against the Taj Corridor officials and a second against Mayawati in person for possessing disproportionate assets outside her known income. The agency,the court said,had violated the basic tenet of law by allowing the FIR on disproportionate assets ride piggy-back on the Taj Corridor probe.

Justice Sathasivam agreed with Mayawati’s contention that since both cases were separate,the CBI should have got prior consent of the state government to start an investigation into Mayawati’s wealth. “In the absence of the consent of the state government,the whole exercise of the CBI of lodging FIR and investigating into the assets of Mayawati,which is not related to the Taj Corridor Project,is without jurisdiction,” the court said,favouring the argument by BSP supremo’s counsel Harish Salve. The judgment is in point-to-point agreement with Mayawati’s stand that the SC had never ordered a CBI investigation into her assets. It vindicates Mayawati’s consistent stand during the past decade that the September 18,2003 order by the Supreme Court was only confined to the Taj Corridor case and did not endow CBI with the authority to probe her wealth. “She made several representations to the CBI officials,the state minister of Personnel and the Prime Minister drawing their attention that the SC had not given any such direction or authority to lodge an FIR and investigate the entire assets of Mayawati from the year 1995,which has no relation with the case of Taj Heritage Corridor Project which came into being only in August 2003,” the court said in Mayawati’s endeavour.

The judgment reproduced Mayawati’s contention that the CBI had always been “bent on harassing her.” “We are satisfied that this court being the ultimate custodian of fundamental rights did not issue any direction to the CBI to conduct a roving inquiry against the assets of Mayawati commencing from 1995 to 2003. The Taj Corridor Project was conceived only in July 2002 and an amount of Rs 17 crore was released in August/September 2002,” the Bench observed.

It held that “the method adopted by the CBI is unwarranted and without jurisdiction. The CBI has proceeded without proper understanding. There was no such direction relating to a second FIR on October 5,2003.”

In fact,the court disclosed that the CBI itself had,in a status report in 2004,revealed that there was no “link” between the Taj Corridor case and any “irregularities” in Mayawati’s assets. “The investigation report filed by the CBI before this court was considered on October 25,2004. It shows that large-scale irregularities do not show any link with the Taj Corridor matter. This conclusion by this court was based on the investigation report of the CBI itself. In view of this,we are satisfied that CBI cannot be permitted to take the view that Taj Corridor and Disproportionate Assets case are the same and the investigation was done in both cases as per the directions of this court,” the Bench held.