Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati received a breather with Judge Rekha Dixit of a special Lucknow court deferring hearing in the Rs 175-crore Taj Heritage Corridor case to May 23.
While the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) failed to file the Governor’s sanction for Mayawati’s prosecution, the deferment came on a petition filed by RK Sharma, former environment secretary and one of the seven accused in the case, questioning the court’s competence to seek sanction for prosecution against public servants.
The Governor’s nod for the prosecution is yet to come through.
Mulayam Singh Yadav had forwarded the file to the Governor’s office two days before he resigned.
With the Governor’s sanction not forthcoming, the CBI has asked for an adjournment in the case.
It has told the court that Governor T V Rajeshwar Rao is yet to give his sanction to start the prosecution.
The agency also sought time to reply to Sharma’s intervention application.
The court had given time till May 15 to the CBI for filing the sanction for prosecution before it could take a decision on whether to take cognisance of the probe report submitted by it on February 15. On the SC directions, the CBI had submitted all documents.