SC asks Mulayam, kin to explain source of wealth

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court, which is in the process of hunting down illegal assets of powerful politicians, today brought Mulayam Singh into the firing line when it asked the UP chief minister, his two sons and daughter-in-law to explain within four weeks the source of the wealth they have acquired over the past six years. A PIL filed by a Congress leader from UP had alleged that the family owned crores of assets.

The UP chief minister has been asked to produce I-T and wealth tax returns for the assessment years ’01 to ’07. The direction was given by a vacation bench comprising Justice Arijit Pasayat and Justice CK Thakker. It may be recalled that the I-T department, which is probing a similar case against the chief minister and his son, had last month asked the two leaders to explain the source of their wealth.

This development is sure to further strain the relationship between the SP and the Congress. On its part, the SP has been maintaining that the PIL in the apex court and the I-T cases are Congress-sponsored projects to ‘harass’ the SP leadership. Incidentally, the person who filed the PIL had fought the last assembly polls against BJP leader Rajnath Singh as a Congress nominee.

The SC bench today brought no relief to the UP chief minister. It said that the I-T cases against the chief minister and his son will continue. The chief minister’s counsel said that his client would prefer scrutiny by the SC as the Centre has been antagonistic towards Mulayam Singh Yadav. Only yesterday, the CM had told reporters that his party feared raids against its leaders, particularly Amar Singh.

The chief minister’s counsel, too, questioned the locus standi of a Congress worker to file the PIL, and said that it was aimed at settling political scores. The bench noted the counsel’s objections, but said that all probes against the CM should continue.

The petitioner, who gave details of land allegedly owned by Yadav and kin, sought a CBI probe. The court did not entertain this request.

“Not at this juncture,” it said. At the same time, the bench said that “anybody acquiring or amassing huge disproportionate wealth can be and has to be probed.” It also said that, if required, the court would monitor the I-T probe against the SP’s first family.

The court is currently hearing a similar case against Union railway minister Lalu Prasad Yadav and his wife Rabri Devi. In the Lalu Yadav case, there have been allegations that the UPA government is shielding its political friends.