MAYA ASSAULT CASE:SC admits plea against Mulayam’s acquittal

Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav appears to be in for some tough times in the Supreme Court ahead of the general elections.

Close on the heels of it questioning the CBI’s volte face to close the DA cases against Yadav and his kin, the apex court on Monday admitted a petition by BSP leader Barkhu Ram Varma questioning the acquittal of the former chief minister in the case under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act for the alleged manhandling of BSP supremo Mayawati in a Lucknow guest house in 1995.

When Mulayam Singh Yadav was in power, the Allahabad high court had on January 28, 2004, quashed the charges under the SC/ST Act against Yadav and others saying the offending words were used in Yadav’s residence, which was not a public place and that the public was not present at that time.

The HC, taking a lenient view, had termed that it was a mere heated discussion between two rival parties and that there was no evidence to indicate that the accused had an intention to humiliate members of the SC community.

The HC had quashed the chargesheet against Yadav, Azam Khan, Masood Ahmad, Beni Prasad Verma, Dhani Ram Verma, Baby Ram Yadav, Uma Kant Yadav, Mohammad Arshad, Sangram SIngh, Shiv Pal Yadav and Mohsin Khan.

Appearing for the Mayawati, senior advocate K K Venugopal and additional advocate general Shail Kumar Dwivedi, argued that the HC erred completely in construing what is a public place under the SC/ST Act.
Source:-The Times of India Delhi 20 January 2009 2008 P.11
For any query:- legalpoint@aol.in