Mulayam’s disproportionate assets case

The case against Mulayam: On November 29, 2005, a writ petition was filed in the Supreme Court for a CBI probe into the disproportionate assets of the then chief minister of Uttar Pradesh Mulayam Singh Yadav. Along with Mulayam, his sons Akhilesh and Prateek and Akhilesh’s wife Dimple were made party, besides the Union Government. The petitioner demanded a CBI inquiry into the assets of Mulayam and others.
The allegations: The petitioner had stated that in 1977 Mulayam’s declared wealth was Rs 70,000. So, how did it reach Rs 20 crore in 2005? In support of his allegation, the petitioner had attached the sale deed documents of properties bought in Mulayam’s, his wife’s or his sons’ names at different places in Lucknow, Delhi and Etawah. In response to the allegation, Mulayam had submitted documents showing his assets were worth Rs 20 crore. During the argument of the case, the petitioner had raised the point that both the father and the sons (Mulayam and Akhilesh) earned Rs 3 crore annually as their salaries, and if one accepted Mulayam’s summary of assets worth Rs 20 crore, he would have to explain the difference of Rs 17 crore. The complainant added that if the CBI found it difficult to locate the properties listed in the case, he would help them in finding all of them. The petitioner Vishwanath Chaturvedi, an advocate by profession, filed the case. Hailing from Barabanki district of Uttar Pradesh, Chaturvedi used to be a Congress leader and had contested the bypoll from Haidergarh Assembly constituency on a Congress ticket against Rajnath Singh. Today, Chaturvedi is registered as an advocate in the Supreme Court.
First hearing: On January 12, 2006, the Bench of Justice Ruma Pal issued notices to all the names mentioned in the writ petition.
Mulayam submits tax papers: On June 1, 2006, a vacation Bench of Justice Arijit Pasayat asked Mulayam to submit before the court his income tax and sales tax returns from 2001 to 2006. As directed by the court, Mulayam submitted the desired papers before the Bench of Justice K A R Laxmanan and Justice Altamash Kabir on July 17.
First judgment :The argument started on February 13, 2007, before the same Bench that reserved its judgment. On March 1, the court released its judgment in which it recommended a CBI probe and asked the Government of India to start a preliminary inquiry.
Opposite party challenges court order :On March 3, 2007, Amar Singh challenged the judgment, filed an appeal in the court, and strongly criticised Justice Laxmanan, who withdrew his name from the case. The case then went to Justice C K Thakkar’s court where the argument carried on for a week. For the first time, the review was heard in an open court.
CBI files its report :The CBI on October 26, 2007, filed an application in the Supreme Court stating that its inquiry was complete and it was willing to file a regular case in the court and did not want to submit its report to either the state or Central governments.
CBI changes stand: On March 10, 2008, the CBI filed another application in the court saying that the complainant has not filed the counter in the case and therefore, it should be decided ex-parte. The complainant filed the counter on November 26, 2008, and supported the CBI’s stand not to hand over the report to the state or Central government. But on December 6, 2008, the CBI requested the court for withdrawal of its earlier application in which it had said that it wanted to file a regular case. The complainant filed a modification application on December 16, 2008, saying that the CBI should file its case in the Supreme Court, as Mulayam had extended support to the Central Government.
Current status :The case was listed on January 5, 6 and 27; now, it has been listed for February 10 when the court has said that the case would be heard on a daily basis.