Law is an ass. If you have doubt, then look at the manner in which corruption cases against the high and mighty of the land are dealt with. Take for instance the manner in which the income tax appellate tribunal exonerated UP chief minister Akhilesh Yadav and his wife Dimple Yadav of the charges of using ill-gotten money to purchase a prime property in the most dubious manner.

Yadav had bought a palatial bungalow on the tony Vikramaditya Marg, which is the heart of Lucknow city, on a price which was grossly undervalued. The manner in which the transaction was done was patently subversive if not criminal to say the least about seven years ago when his father Mulayam Singh Yadav was the chief minister. On the day of the purchase, he got over Rs 40 lakh deposited into his account and withdrew it in cash to purchase the property from a Delhi-based real estate agent.

The year 2004-5 was not the time when the Yadavs shared the best of relations with the UPA regime. With Amar Singh still acting as Mulayam’s alter ego, he was unrestrained in taking a pot shot at UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and the Congress. The transaction left a trail which prompted the I-T sleuths to smell a rat. They served a notice to the Yadavs about the deal which was evidently not above board.

Since 2005 much water has flowed down Gomti in Lucknow and Yamuna in New Delhi. Mulayam lost the election in 2007 and felt the heat of a vindictive state government headed by Mayawati. The wrestler-turned-politician did a somersault and reached out to the UPA for shelter. He and his family members were accused of corruption in various real estate deals. The CBI and the I-T sleuths were let loose on them.

But 2009 was the turning point when Mualaym Singh Yadav came to the rescue of the Manmohan singh government on the issue of Indo-US nuclear deal. Since then, the CBI and I-T department began conducting the investigation in a manner suited best to giving the benefit of doubt to the accused. In the supreme court, the prosecution (the union government) showed no inclination to pursue the case against the Yadavs on criminal charges.

But the manner in which the I-T appellate tribunal has dismissed the cases against Akhilesh and Dimple speaks volumes about amenability of the rules and law according to the convenience of the high and mighty. Obviously, Akhilesh could take a ridiculous plea of ignorance and get away with it. He is believed to have cited his young age (32 years at that time) as handicap in being conversant with the law of the land. His plea found favour with the I-T authorities. It is another matter that only six years later, he qualified to be the chief minister of the country’s largest state. Akhilesh’s case is not an isolated instance that confirms the asinine nature of law. And this will obviously not be the last one.