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        The Supreme Court said that it could not entertain PILs (Public Interest Litigations) of politicians which seek to make the Court the forum for fighting their political battles. The occasion for this comment was the PIL against Lalu Prasad Yadav by Sushil Modi, present Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar, asking for investigation into the acquisition by Lalu of wealth disproportionate to his known sources of income. On the other hand, the Court admitted a PIL from a Congress activist seeking a probe in the case of Mulayam Singh Yadav who was alleged to have made similar acquisition of wealth. The Court said that the two cases were different and admitted the petition for a CBI probe in Mulayam's case in the teeth of the observation by Mulayam's counsel that the petitioner had not only contested in the Assembly poll on the Congress ticket but had himself conceded that he was a Congress activist. The petitioner might have concealed these facts before the Court but it was strange that the Court ignored the points made on this basis by Mulayam's counsel. This is incomprehensible just like its view that the two cases were different.

        Caesar's wife should be above suspicion. The Supreme Court has apparently breached this norm. If there is a reason for it, it has not been revealed. Elections to the UP Assembly are under way with the commencement of the blame game between Mulayam and his political rivals. Congress activists would not fail to capitalise on the rejection by the Court of the PIL against Lalu as against the admission by it of the PIL against Mulayam demanding CBI probe. Activists of the Samajwadi Party of Mulayam would be provoked to attribute bias on the part of the Court against him, spicing it with allegations about instances where the CBI was forced to carry out the will of the Congress. They would point out how the CBI was forced to act against its will by the Congress in the Taj Expressway case against Mayawati. They would specifically recall how the Supreme Court had on numerous occasions questioned the disinclination of the CBI to pursue cases which made the ruling party at the Centre vulnerable. They would enquire why, against this record, it did what could be read as a biased approach in dealing with the petition against Mulayam. Not only would this intensify the scurrilous propaganda of the Samajwadi Party against the Court and the Congress but it would also provide an opportunity to Mulayam to sell his image to the public as of an innocent person martyred by the vested interests against him.

        Not only knowledgeable critics but also the general public would be aghast at this turn of events that have evolved around the two Yadavs whose credibility has never been high and whose stratagems to win their goals have got for them more notoriety than fame. The greater pity, as a critic points out, is that they have turned the Court verdict into a political football with one side openly rejoicing over it and the other reviling it as part of a vicious conspiracy. By not sticking to its earlier decision not to entertain politically motivated PILs, the Court has allowed its reputation to be dragged to the market place.