In 2012, the court directed CBI to go ahead with the probe against Mulayam Singh Yadav and Akhilesh Yadav
Highlights
- Disproportionate assets case was filed in 2007
- CBI has been given two weeks to file status report on investigation
- Court asked CBI to probe Mulayam Singh Yadav, Akhilesh Yadav in 2012
The Supreme Court has asked the CBI for a status report on the disproportionate assets case against Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav and his father Mulayam Singh Yadav. The case was filed in 2007 after allegation that the senior Yadav misused his office as chief minister of Uttar Pradesh to accumulate vast amounts of wealth.
"We want to know what has happened to this case? There is a status report of 2007. What has happened? We would like to know whether the case is registered?" the top court asked the Central Bureau of Investigation.
A court asked the CBI to file its give a status report on the investigation in two weeks. "Timing is not relevant. We want to know what happened," Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi, who headed the bench, told Mulayam Singh Yadav's lawyer who alleged the timing of the petition was based on the April-May national election.
The Supreme Court was hearing a petition requesting for a direction to the CBI to file its probe report either before the top court or before a magisterial court in the assets case.
Political activist Vishwanath Chaturvedi, in 2005, had filed the petition in the top court seeking a direction to the CBI to take appropriate action to prosecute Mulayam Singh Yadav, Akhilesh, his wife Dimple Yadav and Prateek Yadav, the other son of Mulayam Singh, under the Prevention of Corruption Act for allegedly acquiring assets more than the known source of their income by misusing their power of authority.
On March 1, 2007, the Supreme Court had ordered a CBI inquiry against Mulayam Singh Yadav, sons Akhilesh and Prateek, and Dimple Yadav.
In December 2012, the court had directed CBI to go ahead with the investigation against Mulayam Singh Yadav and Akhilesh Yadav, while dropping investigation against Dimple.
Till date, no First Information Report (FIR) has been registered against the Yadavs and it has not only caused "some irremediable and irrecoverable damaged to the whole case, but also raised serious questions of credibility and integrity of our investigating agencies", the petition said.
On the basis of Income Tax Returns and reliable documents of the Yadav family members, the disproportionate assets were calculated at Rs 2.63 crore, the petition said.