The Supreme Court on Monday took serious view of the repeated adjournments sought by both the CBI and UP chief minister Mayawati in the disproportionate assets case against her during the past two years, raising doubts if there was any “collusion” between them. Reminding Ms Mayawati’s counsel and attorney-general G.E.
Vahanvati, appearing for the CBI that the petition of the UP CM had been pending since 2008, an exasperated bench of Justices B. Sudershan Reddy and S.S. Nijjar said “every time the matter comes up something is being said. You (Mayawati) keep on filing applications, the other (CBI) demands time for reply.” The strong observation came from the bench when the lawyers for the parties made a request for the adjournment of the case for another six weeks.
The court reminded the parties that in the past either one side had sought time to file an application, the other wanted the deferment on the ground of filing a counter affidavit. The exercise of filing of the applications and affidavits had been repeated in the past, the apparently annoyed bench said.
“If both of you are together then let this petition go,” the bench remarked when the CBI counsel sought an adjournment of the matter on the plea of filing a reply to an earlier application of Ms Mayawati. However, the adjournment was ultimately allowed by the court. The Central government and the CBI was accused by the Opposition, particularly the BJP of using the case against Ms Mayawati to “extract” political mileage out of it, particularly to bail out the UPA government on the “cut motion” on the 2010-11 Budget brought by the Opposition.
But later in its “blow hot and blow cold” attitude, the CBI in its status report had changed track and submitted that there were “cogent, credible and admissible evidence” to go ahead with the prosecution of Ms Mayawati in the case.
Ms Mayawati, on the other hand, in her applications had alleged that she was being “targeted” due to “political reasons” and the CBI had applied “different yardstick” in dealing the assets case against her than those against RJD chief Lalu Prasad and SP leader Mulayam Singh.