By IANS
New Delhi : The Supreme Court Monday reserved its order on a plea challenging refusal of the Uttar Pradesh governor to sanction prosecution of Chief Minister Mayawati for alleged corruption in the Rs.1.75 billion Taj Heritage corridor project.
A three-judge environment bench headed by Justice S.B. Sinha reserved the order after hearing arguments on whether it has the power to directly examine the legality of a Lucknow sessions court order, which had asked the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to approach Governor T.V. Rajeshwar and seek his sanction to prosecute the chief minister in February this year.
The bench, which had monitored the probe by the CBI in the Taj Heritage Corridor scam, reserved the order observing that, “its role was over” in monitoring the case as it had been concluded.
The bench, which also included Justices S.H. Kapadia and D.K. Jain, suggested that the petitioner Ajay Agarwal and Amicus Curiae Kishan Mahajan approach other appropriate forums to challenge the Lucknow Special Judge order asking the CBI to approach the governor.
But amid lingering doubts by the bench on its power to directly examine the legality of the Lucknow court order, Mahajan vehemently argued that the court indeed had the power to intervene and bring the criminal probe into the case to its logical end.
During arguments, he recalled that for the first time in the history of the apex court, this bench had sought registration of First Information Report in the Taj Heritage Corridor scam through one of its own officials in its public interest lawsuit wing.
Mahajan argued that the bench as the “informant in the FIR and the continuing constitutional monitor is the custodian of the public interest in the case”.