With former cabinet minister Rangnath Mishra getting no relief from the Apex Court and would now face trial for amassing huge wealth than his known resources, pressure would be now on state government to clear passage for a trial of about half a dozen more cabinet colleagues of former chief minister Mayawati. Sources said that after getting clearance against former secondary education minister Rangnath Mishra, to prosecute him on the basis of the investigation which found that he owns movable and immovable assets disproportionate to his known source of income, the sleuths of the Vigilance Department had filed a charge-sheet in a local court at Varanasi in July two years back. The investigation had found that Mishra’s actual income between May 13, 2007 and October 5, 2011 was over Rs 1.57 crore while he spent over Rs 7.61 crore.
However, Mishra challenged the probe against him and also questioned the procedure adopt by lokayukta (retd) Justice NK Mehrorta. When he failed to get any relief from High Court, he knocked the door of the Supreme Court. However, last week Apex Court turned down his plea and claiming that Mehrotra had adopted the correct procedure, directed to trial the former minister in the Disproportionate Assets case.
Now when Mishra, would face legal proceedings, half a dozen more ministers of Mayawati, against whom probe by Mehrotra already found charges of corruption and also under DA case to be true would face legal proceedings. Sources said that the state Government had to take decide on the vigilance report pertaining to former cabinet ministers in the Bahujan Samaj Party government-Naseemuddin Siddiqui and Ramveer Upadhyay-for amassing wealth disproportionate to known sources of income and misusing post. The vigilance department probed charges against Naseemuddin and his family members of amassing wealth disproportionate to known sources of income and misusing post on the recommendations of the lokayukta. The Vigilance inquired into Siddiqui’s known sources of income between March 27, 1997 and March 21, 2012 and found he had earned over Rs 69.96 lakh, but spent over Rs 14.32 crore against his actual earnings in these years.
There was similar probe against former power minister Ramvir Upadhyay. Sources in the vigilance department said incriminating evidence was found against them during investigation and the review is in the final stages. Another minister who would face trouble in Ram Achal Rajbhar against whom the probe reportedly proved charges of accumulating disproportionate assets amounting to over Rs 1,050 crore in the name of the trust he had set up in the name of his father Ram Awadh in Ambedkarnagar. The lokayukta had also found Rajbhar guilty of accumulating disproportionate assets and money laundering. Other former BSP ministers facing vigilance probe for DA case and may found themselves in trouble if government gave prosecution sanction order are former family welfare minister Babu Singh Kushwaha, former small-scale industries minister Chandradev Ram Yadav and former animal husbandry minister Awadh Pal Singh Yadav and Ayodhya Pal.