The Supreme Court fixed February 1, 2011, for hearing on the case relating to alleged disproportionate assets of former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav and his family members who have sought a review of its order directing a Central Bureau of Investigation inquiry into the case.
The apex court had ordered a CBI inquiry on March 1, 2007, into the alleged accumulation of disproportionate assets by Yadav, his sons Akhilesh, Prateek and daughter-in-law Dimple on a public interest litigation by an advocate Vishwanath Chaturvedi.
The matter was listed before a Bench comprising Justices Altamas Kabir and H L Dattu which said all formalities relating to matter like pleadings etc, if not completed, have to be done before the next date of hearing. The date for hearing on February 1 next year was fixed after the consent of the advocates of all parties which included Attorney General G E Vahanvati, senior advocates Mukul Rohatgi and Rakesh Dwivedi, appearing for the Yadavs and counsel for Chaturvedi.
The case was last heard by the apex court in February last year when the CBI was criticised for its handling of the case with the court saying the agency was "acting at the behest" of the central government. The court was unhappy about the grounds on which the CBI wanted a withdrawal of the plea seeking direction permitting the agency to proceed further in the matter without any reference to the government.
The law officer had said the opinion of the Law Ministry was sought to withdraw an application under which CBI had sought filing of an inquiry report before the apex court and not the government. Vahanvati, who was then the Solicitor General, had given the opinion in the case in November 2008 to the government for withdrawal of the CBI's application for submitting report of the probe to the apex court.
The court had criticised the CBI's decision. The attorney general had then said that his opinion in the case was on the point of law and during pendency of the matter detailed representations were made relating to the case which could be considered.
The CBI had on December 6, 2008, moved the apex court seeking withdrawal of its earlier application of October, 2007 in which it had sought permission to place a status report before the court instead of submitting it to the central government as per the March 1, 2007 order. The court wanted to know the reason from CBI for withdrawal of the application and had expressed its inclination to modify the order saying "the direction in the judgement to submit the report to the Centre was possibly a mistake."
The Bench had noted that when CBI had filed an application for modification of the March 1 order, it had said that it was an independent body and not under the control of the Centre so it wanted to file the report of the probe before the court. The CBI's plea to withdraw the application was opposed by Vishwanath Chaturvedi on whose petition the apex court had on March 1, 2007, directed the agency to conduct a preliminary inquiry.
The apex court had asked CBI to examine whether the allegations made by the petitioner with regard to the illegal assets of Yadavs were true and submit a report to the Centre which may take further steps. The apex court had rejected the plea of Yadav and his family that the PIL was motivated as Chaturvedi was reportedly a Congress activist.
"The ultimate test in our view, therefore, is whether the allegations have any substance. An inquiry should not be shut out at the threshhold because a political opponent of a person, with political differences, raises an allegation of commission of offence," the apex court had observed while ordering the CBI inquiry.
Subsequently, the Yadavs filed a review petition but the same could not be adjudicated after Justice A R Lakshmanan (since retired) recused (withdrew) himself from hearing, following an anonymous letter, which according to the judge, virtually questioned his integrity. Chaturvedi, whom Yadav had accused of filing the PIL against him at the behest of Congress, has sought a direction to CBI to register a regular case and investigate the matter under the supervision of the apex court.
The investigating agency had in October 2007 moved the apex court informing it that the preliminary inquiry undertaken by it disclosed commission of offences by Yadav and his family members and had sought permission to file reports directly to it.
The application filed by Chaturvedi on November 26, 2008, sought a direction that CBI be restrained from making any reference about the inquiry report relating to the case with the UPA government which was then getting the support of Samajwadi Party headed by Yadav. He had contended that such a direction was necessary as otherwise both Yadav and the Centre may try to manipulate the investigation according to their convenience without considering public interest.
