The CBI has asked the Income-Tax Department to probe any possible irregularities in the acquisition of certain properties by Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh’s wife Sadhana in the name of his son Prateek. The move will provide a fresh handle to the Centre against Mulayam Singh Yadav.
The CBI move comes close on the heels of the agency filing a closure report in a disproportionate assets probe against Mulayam and his family. The CBI closed the disproportionate assets case on September 20 and wrote to the I-T Department next day.
During the course of the Preliminary Enquiry relating to the possession of disproportionate assets against Mulayam and his family members, irregular acquisition of certain properties was noticed, CBI sources said.
The sources said Sadhana had acquired four properties in lucknow worth crores of rupees in the name of Prateek between the check period April 1, 1994 and March 31, 2004. Prateek was a minor during this period.
Since the acquisition of these assets did not pertain to criminality and is only related to taxation issues, the agency decided to refer the details to the Income-Tax Department for requisite action, the sources said.
In its closure report, the CBI had said: “The alleged benami properties acquired by Sadhana in the name of his (Mulayam’s) minor son (during check period) Prateek Yadav have not been found to have any links with Mulayam Singh Yadav and his family.”
According to the initial findings by the CBI in the disproportionate assets enquiry, the agency had computed the combined disproportionate assets of the four suspects (Mulayam, sons Akhilesh and Prateek and daughter-in-law Dimple) to the tune of `2.63 crore.
However, the Supreme Court had ordered that the income, assets and expenditure pertaining to Dimple should be excluded from those of her other family members.
Following this order, the agency had re-assessed the evidence collected during the enquiry and filed a closure report on account of “grossly insufficient evidence.”