Ready to drop DA case against Maya, CBI tells SC-Springs Surprise In Wake Of Finance Bill And Cut Motion

CBI on Friday told Supreme Court that it was ready to consider dropping its plan to prosecute BSP chief Mayawati in the DA case. Though attorney general G E Vahanvati stated so only in response to a forceful plea from Mayawati,the development is politically significant for its timing, coming just ahead of voting on the Finance Bill and when government is busy marshalling numbers to defeat the challenge in the form of opposition-sponsored cut motions. Unlike other parties, BSP is yet to spell out its stand on the cut motion. Mayawati, in her petition, had said that CBI was being cussed in insisting on carrying on with the investigation despite a clean cheat to her from the IT department. Vahanvati told a Bench comprising Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan and Justices A K Ganguly and B S Chauhan that CBI would consider her April 20 representation. The Bench adjourned the hearing of the case till August, giving almost four months to CBI to look into her representation. Appearing for Mayawati, senior advocate Satish Chandra Mishra said the I-T department had found Mayawati's accounts to be in order and accepted that the excess money were genuine gifts. "If this is the stand of the I-T department, how could the CBI say that it had evidence to show that she owned disproportionate assets, "he asked. The SC was informed about the representation in the recent affidavit filed by Mayawati through additional advocate general Shail Kumar Dwivedi. It said that the case originated from the Taj Heritage Corridor scam investigations ordered by the apex court in September 2003, in which it had asked CBI to look into the scam as well as her assets. While investigations by CBI revealed that she had no role in the scam following which the case had been closed against her, the DA cases related to the assessment years 2001-02 and 2001-03 continued, she said. "The commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals) by order dated April 5 and April 19 this year has decided in may favour in respect of the income in the form of gifts for the assessment years 2001-02 and 2002-03, "she said. "The CBI is now bound to take into account and consider the impact of the two orders and is also legally bound to relook into the entire matter afresh taking into consideration the various orders passed from time to time by the I-T authorities and its impact on my (DA) case on merits, "she said.
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(source-toi)