File pic of former UP chief minister Mayawati
The Supreme Court today said that the CBI's investigation for alleged corruption by politician Mayawati will not be re-opened.
The verdict offers huge relief for the four-time chief minister of Uttar Pradesh who heads the Bahujan Samaj Party or BSP. Though she does not participate in the ruling coalition at the Centre, her party props up the minority government by extending external support.
"The Supreme Court has given us justice," Mayawati said today.
The CBI has been investigating the politician for nearly nine years to determine whether her assets were disproportionate to her declared income. The inquiry began after allegations that a project to develop the areas around the Taj Mahal were seeped in financial irregularities.
In July 2012, the Supreme Court said that the CBI had exceeded its brief by filing a police case or FIR against the former chief minister. Then, like today, the judges said that the CBI could investigate other instances of possible graft, but that in what's known as the Taj Corridor case, the agency must wrap up its investigation.
A man named Kamlesh Verma, who had sought the corruption investigation against the leader, had asked the Supreme Court to review its verdict.
The CBI is not looking at any other instance of alleged graft against the politician.