New Delhi:
The CBI, sources said, is considering whether to close its investigation on the alleged illegal wealth of Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh Yadav and his son, Akhilesh, who is the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh.
Sources say there's not enough evidence to suggest that the assets of the Yadavs were accumulated through misuse of public office.
A final decision on whether the inquiry will wrap will be taken by CBI chief Ranjit Sinha, but the Supreme Court will have to endorse his proposal.
The man whose Public Interest Litigation or PIL prompted the Supreme Court to sanction the inquiry in 2007 says that the Congress is leaning on the CBI to protect Mr Yadav, whose 22 Lok Sabha MPs are indispensable for the minority government.
In December, the Supreme Court ruled that the CBI cannot investigate the assets of Dimple Yadav, who is married to Akhilesh, because she did not hold public office during the period under scrutiny. She was elected to Parliament from Kannauj in 2012.
Vishwanath Chaturvedi, an advocate from UP and the petitioner in the case, says that he will challenge the exemption for her.
The final call on whether to close the case against the Yadavs will be taken by CBI Director Ranjit Sinha by the end of this month, before Parliament begins its monsoon session on August 5.
The government needs the support of the Samajwadi Party to push through a new law on Food Security, which entitles nearly 70% of India's population to highly subsidised food. The Congress is counting on this scheme as a major vote-getter for the national election, due by May.
The CBI has, through its six-year investigation, see-sawed between whether its investigation is yielding dividends. Critics say that the Congress has leveraged the case to pressure Mr Yadav into supporting it on crucial legislation - the nuclear deal with the US in 2008, for example.