Mayawati was charged with embezzling funds meant to upgrade tourist facilities near Taj Mahal in Agra and using them to amass assets in her and her family members' name
In a major breather for BSP chief Mayawati, the Supreme Court yesterday dismissed a nine-year-old corruption case in which she was charged with embezzling public funds meant for the development of the Taj heritage corridor.
The Supreme Court, which stopped the CBI probe against her, also pulled up the agency for overstepping its jurisdiction. While an elated Mayawati said that justice had finally been done, Uttar Pradesh’s ruling SP accused the probe agency of “technical errors” in its probe, leading to the former chief minister getting away.
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Scrapping the FIR, a bench of Justice P Sathasivam and Justice Dipak Misra described the filing of another FIR against Mayawati for amassing wealth by corrupt means as illegal and without jurisdiction. The court upheld Mayawati’s contention that the FIR against her filed by the CBI was mala fide and the misreading of the apex court’s orders in the Taj heritage corridor case.
Slamming the CBI, the court said that in the registration of the “unwarranted” second FIR, the investigating agency exceeded its jurisdiction and its action was illegal.
A beaming Mayawati thanked the apex court, as well as her party members for their unflinching support. “I wholeheartedly thank all my party members. My party members stood like a hard rock beside me and never left me in any of the circumstances and backed me during this case even after facing lots of ups and downs in nine-10 years,” she said.
Hitting out at the CBI, SP leader Shahid Siddiqui said, “This is not Mayawati's victory but CBI’s defeat, as the investigation agency committed technical errors.” The Congress, however, stressed that the court’s ruling must be respected.
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