General elections on the horizon, CBI closes DA case against Mulayam

CBI has closed the Disproportionate Assets case against SP chief Mulayam SIngh Yadav due to insufficient evidence

In a big relief to Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav, the CBI closed a six-year-old disproportionate assets case against him on Friday citing lack of evidence.

"The CBI has closed the Preliminary Enquiry (PE) against Mulayam Singh Yadav and his family on account of grossly insufficient evidence," the agency said.

Related: Decoding Mulayam Singh Yadav's disproportionate assets case

In a detailed reasoning, the CBI cited Supreme Court's order of December 13 , 2013, whereby it was said that the income, assets and expenditure pertaining to Dimple Yadav, wife of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, should be excluded from those of her other family members.

"This order necessitated re-assessment of the evidence collected during the enquiry, and a fresh look in accordance with the order of the Supreme Court," the CBI said in its statement.

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"We are being very transparent about all cases including this and are ready to stand any legal scrutiny," CBI Director Ranjit Sinha told PTI.

The CBI said the PE in the case which was registered in 2007 could not be concluded earlier due to litigations and pendency of the review petitions.

The CBI said that since Mulayam had not joined the probe earlier in 2007, the agency had calculated his income, that of his sons Akhilesh and Prateek and daughter in law Dimple to Rs 2.63 crore. This had to be changed after the December 2012 judgement of the Supreme Court.

CBI will inform the Supreme Court about its decision next week.

During its enquiry, the agency examined a large number of persons including the Yadav family and collected several documents. "Careful examination of documents, statement of witness and the version of the suspects during the course of further enquiry, has not brought out sufficient evidence supporting the allegation of possession of any disproportionate assets, jointly or individually, against Mulayam Singh Yadav and his family members," the CBI said.