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Strong proof against Maya, CBI tells SC
R Sedhuraman
Legal Correspondent

New Delhi, September 13
Rejecting Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati’s contention that the corruption charge against her was “politically motivated”, the CBI has informed the Supreme Court that it had collected sufficient evidence to nail her in the case.

In an affidavit, the CBI said it had “cogent evidence” in the form of documents, oral statements and “strong circumstantial evidence”, revealing the “criminal nexus” between her and her relatives and the “donors”.

Mayawati had argued in the SC that she had secured a clean chit from the Income Tax Commissioner (Appeals), New Delhi, for the assessment years from 1998-99 to 2004-05 and as such there was no substance in the charge that she was involved in the Taj Corridor scam.

She had also averred that the CBI probe had found that “not even a single penny came into my hands out of the Rs 17 crore disbursed in the Taj Corridor case” and in view of this, the disproportionate assets (DA) case against her should have been “dropped immediately”.

The CBI now asserts that the findings of the income tax authorities, including the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT), would have no bearing on the DA case as the findings had come after the registration of the case.

Further, the IT authorities had arrived at a conclusion taking into account documents which were not admissible in a criminal trial.

“The findings of IT authorities are relevant only for the taxation purposes and cannot have any bearing on the material evidence collected during a criminal investigation,” the agency maintained.