Supreme Court rejects plea against Mayawati in Taj Corridor case

The Supreme Court on Monday rejected a plea seeking directions to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) designated judge, Lucknow, to proceed with the trial in the Taj Corridor case, in which Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati is one of the main accused.

New Delhi, Aug 6 : The Supreme Court on Monday rejected a plea seeking directions to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) designated judge, Lucknow, to proceed with the trial in the Taj Corridor case, in which Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati is one of the main accused.

The petitioner, a Supreme Court advocate, contended that protection of Section 197 CrPC is not available to public servants allegedly facing corruption charges.

He also alleged that Uttar Pradesh Governor T V Rajeswar had wrongly declined to grant sanction for the prosecution of Mayawati and other officials, who are facing allegations of pocketing over 100 crore rupees in the Taj Corridor scam.

In the June 3 order, Governor Rajeswar refused to grant sanction to prosecute Mayawati in the Rs 175 crore Taj Corridor scam, holding there was no prima facie case and that corruption and forgery charges against the BSP supremo would "not stand scrutiny."

The CBI communicated this to a designated court in Lucknow that heard the case on June 5.

The Governor's sanction was awaited by the CBI to proceed against Mayawati in the case.

The CBI had sought sanction to prosecute Mayawati, Mayawati's cabinet colleague Naseemuddin Siddique, former environment secretary R K Sharma and under secretary R Prasad under Section 19 (1) of the Prevention of Corruption Act 1988 and Section 197 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC).

The designated court, in its February 15 order, had given time till May 15 to the CBI to obtain sanction for the prosecution of the accused.

The designated court observed that in the absence of the sanction to prosecute Mayawati, it had no jurisdiction either to take cognisance or proceed further in respect of the two persons.

Governor Rajeswar in his 23-page order said: "The fact that she (Mayawati) wrote to Union Minister T.R. Baalu for sanction of the project, the fact that the Mission Management Board, consisting of officers of both the State and the Central Government, regularly met and discussed the project and the fact that even a sum of Rs. 17 crore was spent through the Central Government public sector undertaking, NPCC, all go to show that the serious offences with which Mayawati and the Minister were charged do not stand scrutiny."

The CBI was probing the case for the past three years, under direct monitoring of the Supreme Court. In November 2006, it set aside the CBI's status report seeking closure of the case.

The Taj Corridor Project proposed to give a facelift to areas surrounding Agra's major monuments along the Yamuna. Included in the venture was a blueprint for a swanky shopping mall.

The plan was put forward by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) and consultancy firm German Technical Cooperation in 2001.

It was part of a series of proposals collectively referred to as the 'Environment Management Plan - Agra'.

Under the project, the CPCB had conceptualised a heritage corridor covering five historical monuments, including Taj Mahal, Agra Fort, Ram Bagh, Itmad-ud-Daula's tomb and Chini ka Rauza.

All this was in disregard of guidelines laid down by the Environment Ministry and the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI).

The grandiose scheme fell apart when it came under media scrutiny in mid-June 2003.

ANI