Illegal mining case: Akhilesh Yadav to skip CBI questioning, say SP sources

In a notice issued under section 160 of CrPC, the CBI had asked Yadav to appear before it on 29 February, officials said. The section allows a police officer to summon witnesses in a probe. “He is not the accused. He is a witness,” a senior official in the know of the development had told PTI.

The cases in which Yadav is summoned pertain to the issuance of mining leases in alleged violation of the e-tendering process. The Allahabad High Court had ordered the probe.

It is alleged that public servants allowed illegal mining during 2012-16, the period when Yadav was chief minister, and illegally renewed licences despite a ban on mining by the National Green Tribunal.

Reacting to the notice in the cases registered in 2019, Yadav attacked the BJP, saying, “The SP is the maximum target (of the BJP). In 2019, I got a notice in some matters as there were Lok Sabha elections then. Now, when the election is approaching again, I am getting a notice again. I know, when the election comes, notice will also come. Why this nervousness? If you (BJP) have done a lot of work in the past 10 years, why are you nervous?” he asked.