Hearing against Mayawati inconclusive

New Delhi, July 24 (UNI) Former UP chief minister Mayawati today informed the Supreme Court that the opinion of the CBI Director in Taj Corridor Project scam should be sent to the court of Magistrate for consideration.

Senior counsel K.K. Venugopal appearing for Ms Mayawati also contended that the report of the Investigating Officer in the case can be overruled by the Director who is the head of the premier investigating agency in the country.

There are two criminal cases pending against the BSP Supremo, one for illegally sanctioning the multi-crore Taj Corridor project during her tenure as chief minister of the state and the other relates to amassing huge assets through corrupt means by abusing her official status as head of the state government.

Earlier the Solicitor General G.E. Vahanwati appearing for the CBI also took similar stand and supported Mayawati.

The bench comprising Justices S.B. Sinha , S H Kapadia and D.K.

Jain adjourned the hearing till July 31 as the arguments remained inconclusive.

Amicus Curiae, Krishna Mahajan however pleaded that nobody has the power to interfere with the investigation of the case and that the report of the Investigation officer (IO) has to be considered by the Magistrate.

There is a difference of opinion between the IO and senior officers of CBI as IO has recommended the prosectuion of Mayawati along with other senior officers of the state at that time in Taj Corridor Project scam worth several hundred crores while the CBI Director and the Attorney General of India Milon K Banerjee have recommended the closure of the case against Mayawati saying that the evidence collected during the investigation did not make any case against her.

UNI AKS/SC RP ND1904