CBI files FIR over irregularities in Mayawati-era sugar mills case

The CBI has registered an FIR and six preliminary enquiries to probe alleged irregularities in the disinvestment of 21 state-owned sugar mills in Uttar Pradesh in 2010-11, when BSP supremo Mayawati was chief minister. The irregularities led to a loss of 1,179 crore rupees to the state exchequer, according to a 2013 report by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) that formed the basis of the case. 

Although no Uttar Pradesh government official or politician has been named in the FIR or preliminary enquiries, seven people who allegedly submitted forged documents in the purchase of the mills, run by the UP State Sugar Corporation Limited, have been charged in the FIR with forgery and cheating. The controversy



began in 2013 when CAG, in a report, said that the sugar mills had been sold at dirt cheap prices. On April 12, 2018, the Yogi Adityanath- led BJP government in Uttar Pradesh issued a notification seeking a CBI investigation into the case. 

The UP government asked CBI to investigate the entire sale proceedings of 21 sugar mills, including use of bogus companies and documents in the purchase of seven closed mills in Deoria, Bareilly, Laxmiganj, Hardoi, Ramkola, Chittauni and Barabanki. The matter was earlier investigated by the local police. An FIR was registered at the Gomti Nagar police station in November 2017 against two companies which bought the mills.