New Delhi, Jan 28 (PTI): The Supreme Court on Monday sought the response of former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati on a petition seeking her prosecution in the Rs 17-crore Taj corridor scam case without the sanction of the Governor.

“We will examine the case,” a bench of justices H L Dattu and Ranjan Gogoi said.

The court also issued notice to the Union government, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Uttar Pradesh government on a petition challenging a judgment of Allahabad High Court giving relief to the Bahujan Samaj Party chief.

The bench also issued a notice to Mayawati's former Cabinet colleague Naseemuddin Siddiqui.

The bench was hearing a batch of appeals against the November 5, 2012, judgment of the Allahabad High Court.

The petitioners have contended that the prosecution can be launched without the sanction of the Governor.

Senior advocate K K Venugopal said this was for the fourth time such a contention has been raised.

The high court in its judgement had dismissed a batch of petitions seeking prosecution of the BSP chief in the Taj corridor case, holding they are devoid of merit.

The Lucknow bench of the high court had upheld the June 2007 order of the special CBI court that dropped the criminal proceedings against Mayawati and Siddiqui for want of Governor T V Rajeswar's sanction to prosecute them.

In 2002, Mayawati launched the corridor project to beautify areas near the Taj Mahal and a new expressway. A year later, the Supreme Court had directed the CBI conduct an enquiry into the alleged scam in the Taj corridor project.