The Supreme Court on Friday issued notice to former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mayawati and the state government on a petition filed by an MLA challenging his detention under the National Security Act.
Apna Dal MLA Atik Ahmed claims false criminal cases were foisted on him due to political reasons.
A bench comprising Justice M B Shah and Justice Brijesh Kumar also issued notices to the District Magistrate, Senior Superintendent of Police and the Union government.
Ahmed, who has been elected MLA six times from the Allahabad (west) assembly constituency and is a known supporter of Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav, has alleged that he incurred Mayawati's wrath after he spurned a request in 1997 to support her government.
Enraged, she had unleashed a flurry of criminal cases against him and invoked NSA on July 15, 2003, the Apna Dal MLA alleged.
Requesting the court to declare his detention under NSA as illegal, Ahmed alleged that the Mayawati government even conspired eliminating him through an encounter.
However, the court dismissed the plea for a CBI probe into the nine cases registered against Ahmed and asked the petitioner to pursue the same before the Allahabad high court.
The apex Court directed the high court to dispose of this matter within three months.