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Supreme Court jolt for Mulayam Singh Yadav |
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Samajwadi Party chief and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav received a jolt on Thursday, March 1, when the Supreme Court ordered a preliminary enquiry by the CBI into allegations that he and his family members had acquired assets disproportionate to their known sources of income. A Bench consisting of Justices A.R. Lakshmanan and Altamas Kabir passed the order on a public interest litigation petition filed by Congress activist Vishwanath Chaturvedi. The petition alleged that Mulayam Singh Yadav and his family members amassed wealth amounting to crores of rupees by misusing their power and authority.
Writing the judgment, Justice Lakshmanan said: “Mr. Mulayam Singh is a senior politician, holding a very high public post of Chief Minister in a very big State, and the allegations made by the petitioner have cast a cloud over his integrity. Therefore, in his own interest, it is of the utmost importance that the truth of these allegations is determined by a competent forum.”
The Bench said “such a course would subserve the public interest and public morality, because the Chief Minister of a State should not function under a cloud and it would also be in the interest of the Chief Minister and the members of his family to have their honour vindicated by establishing that the allegations are not true.”
Without specifying any time-frame, the apex court directed the CBI to inquire into the allegations levelled in the PIL and submit its report to the Centre which can take further steps, depending on the probe outcome. The court said it was not expressing any opinion on the documents filed by the complainant, but it was in public interest that the inquiry was ordered. While directing the CBI to conduct a preliminary inquiry into the assets of the Chief Minister, his MP son, Akhilesh, daughter-in-law Dimple and other son Pratik, the court said it would be in their interest to have their honour vindicated by establishing that the allegations are not true.
Observers say that the apex court order could not have come at a worse time for Mulayam Singh Yadav, given that all opposition parties, including the BSP, BJP and Congress, are set to use the issue as a political weapon against the SP in the Assembly polls next month.
The SP camp indicated that a review petition in the Supreme Court would be filed for a probe by an agency other than the CBI. The CBI worked under “pressure” of the Congress-led Central Government and it could not be termed an “independent” agency, Yadav’s brother and party general secretary Ram Gopal Yadav said in Lucknow. SP general secretary Amar Singh echoed this line claiming that the UP Chief Minister had not done anything wrong. He said Yadav had been framed by a Congress worker.
On Friday, March 2, business in both Houses of Parliament was affected with the Samajwadi Party, along with the Telugu Desam Party, the Asom Gana Parishad and the All-India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, staging a noisy protest. They were agitated over the ordering of a CBI probe into the assets of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mulayam Singh. They alleged that the Congress was behind the “political conspiracy.”
In the Lok Sabha, SP members, led by Akhilesh Yadav, trooped into the well of the House, while AGP and TDP members stood in the aisle or at their desks.
Congress members from Uttar Pradesh, Rajesh Mishra, Surendra Goyal, Jitin Prasad and Bijender Singh, and Sarvey Satyanarayana from Andhra Pradesh countered the slogan-shouting by the SP members, even as Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi watched the happenings.
Speaker Somnath Chatterjee adjourned the House twice during question hour and later adjourned it for the day, expressing anguish over the behaviour of some members. Barring the tabling of papers, no business was transacted in the House.
In the Rajya Sabha too, there was a furore over the CBI probe ordered by the Supreme Court, causing two adjournments.
Both the Government and the Congress have rejected the Samajwadi Party allegation that the CBI worked under their pressure on the Mulayam Singh Yadav issue. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Priya Ranjan Dasmunshi said in New Delhi on March 1 that neither the Government of India, nor the Congress, is a party to the issue. Congress spokesman Abhishek Singhvi said the Samajwadi Party was “crudely dragging the highest court in the country” in the matter and they should refrain from such remarks. Singhvi said that the UP Chief Minister should have resigned long back given the constitutional, legal and moral position.
Mulayam wins confidence vote for 22nd time
On Feb. 26, the Mulayam Singh Yadav government won a vote of confidence in the State Assembly by a voice vote. While the Bahujan Samaj Party, the Congress and the Rashriya Lok Dal remained absent during the debate on the confidence vote, BJP members walked out just before the voting. This is said to be the 22nd time, the Government had won a vote of confidence in the last four years.
While the ruling Samajwadi Party and the BJP traded charges against each other in the House, the Jan Morcha alliance led by former Prime Minister V.P. Singh and the Congress held demonstrations outside the Assembly building.
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