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Tuesday, Jul 20, 2004

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National

Supreme Court issues notice to Mayawati

By Our Legal Correspondent

NEW DELHI, JULY 19. The Supreme Court today issued notice to the former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister, Mayawati, and two State officials on a petition challenging an Allahabad High Court order, granting them anticipatory bail in the Rs. 175-crore Taj Heritage Corridor project scam.

A three-member Bench, comprising Justice Ruma Pal, Justice S.B. Sinha and Justice S.H. Kapadia, issued the notice on a special leave petition filed by advocate Ajay Kumar Agrawal against the High Court order after the CBI failed to prefer an appeal. The Bench also issued notice to Ms. Mayawati's then principal Secretary P. L. Punia and the former Environment Secretary, V.K. Gupta.

The CBI had registered a case of alleged irregularities in the construction of the Rs. 175-crore corridor linking five historical places in Agra, including Taj Mahal and the Agra Fort. On a petition from Ms. Mayawati and others seeking quashing of the FIRs, the High Court stayed their arrest on a condition that they should cooperate with the investigation.

`Prepare note'

The Judges took serious note of the manner in which the officers, Mr. Punia, Mr. Gupta and R.K. Sharma, were initially suspended, reinstated and then put on compulsory wait by the State Government. The Bench directed the CBI to prepare a self-contained note within a week to spell out the findings of the investigation against the officers to make it the basis for the departmental inquiry.

The Bench also directed the CBI to send the note to the State Government for completing departmental inquiries against four of its officers within three months, making it clear that no further time would be granted for the purpose.

Earlier, the Solicitor-General, G.E. Vahanvati submitted to the court a further CBI status report in a sealed cover. He said there were two FIRs in the case. In the first, the investigation was complete. In the second, he sought six months to complete the investigation but the court granted only three months.

The Bench directed the State Government to file within four weeks copies of the ``orders of suspension of the four officers, the orders revoking the suspension and the reasons thereof, the orders placing the officers, still in service, on compulsory wait and the relevant Service Rules.'' The Union Ministry of Water Resources was directed to file this report on the behaviour pattern of the Yamuna due to the impact of the reclamation of 75 acres of riverbed and its likely impact on the foundation of Taj Mahal.

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