The Samajwadi Party government in Uttar Pradesh is in a generous mood, especially when it comes to withdrawing legal cases against friends and foes.
The government -— keeping up with the trend it began in its previous regime — has withdrawn hundreds of criminal cases levelled against Samajwadi Party workers during the various agitation in the Mayawati regime.
According to law department sources, more than 3,000 SP workers had been booked for criminal offences during the previous regime and majority of them are being withdrawn.
“These were innocent party activists who were framed in the BSP regime and if the government has withdrawn cases, it has done so after proper screening,” says SP spokesman Rajendra Choudhury.
Incidentally, cases against criminal-turned Samajwadi Party MLAs, like Abhay Singh and Vijay Singh, are also in the process of being withdrawn and the Samajwadi Party insists that these legislators were “wrongly implicated by the BSP”. The government is also withdrawing four cases against minister Azam Khan.
The Samajwadi Party government has also withdrawn cases related to money laundering against its former leader Amar Singh. It is another matter that superstar Amitabh Bachchan has also become a beneficiary of this since he happens to be a director in at least half a dozen firms of Mr Amar Singh that were under scrutiny.
Cases set up against film star Sanjay Dutt for his intemperate remarks against former chief minister Mayawati during the 2009 Lok Sabha campaign, have also been withdrawn.
Another leader who is likely to benefit from the Samajwadi generosity is BJP MP Varun Gandhi who had a stint in jail after the Mayawati government booked him for making inflammatory speeches during the Lok Sabha elections.
Adhering to its promises made during the election campaign, the chief minister has also ordered withdrawal of cases against farmers who had been agitating against acquisition of their land in Bhatta Parsaul and Tappal villages.