New Delhi, Jan. 12 : The Supreme Court on Monday gave Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati a month''s time to respond to the Central Bureau of Investigation claim in a disproportionate assets case against her.

The CBI has claimed that there is ample evidence to prosecute her in a disproportionate assets case registered against her five years ago.

Mayawati, through a plea before the court, has asked to quash any criminal proceedings against her in the stated case stating that was registered against her due to political vendetta.

Appearling before a Bench headed by Chief Justice K. G. Balakrishnan, Uttar Pradesh''s Additional Advocate General Shail Kumar Dwivedi said the matter should be deferred for hearing for four weeks so that he could file a counter to the affidavit filed by the CBI.

The investigating agency (CBI) in July last had responded to the apex court notice stating that there was sufficient evidence to show that Mayawati amassed wealth disproportionate to her known sources of income.

The CBI, which registered a DA case against the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief in 2003, has stated that the assets shown by her in the Akbarpur parliamentary constituency were worth over Rs. one crore (10 million rupees) whereas the assets increased to over Rs 50 crore in her declaration papers submitted during the 2007 Assembly polls.

According to the investigating agency Mayawati had been questioned about the wealth over a period of three years in which she said that it was due to the party worker''s donations, which included meagre sums of Rs five and Rs 10, on her birthday.

CBI, however, contended that the reason as given by Mayawati were not plausible and that it was likely to file a chargesheet against her in the disproportionate assets case soon.

The agency, however, denied that the CBI''s probe was being actually meant serve UPA government''s political interests and it was meant for "character assassination", as was alleged by Mayawati. (ANI)