In a fresh twist to the Taj corridor controversy, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav on Saturday gave a clean chit to the state's recently appointed Chief Secretary Akhand Pratap Singh, against whom the Centre has sought the state's permission to conduct a CBI probe.

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"We have thoroughly examined whatever papers we have received. The chief secretary was found innocent in the inquiry conducted by the government in the disproportionate assets case," Yadav told reporters in New Delhi.

Union Minister of State for Home Harin Pathak had reportedly written a letter to the state government seeking its permission for a CBI probe against the chief secretary for possessing assets disproportionate to his income.

Yadav said that he has gone through the entire text of the Centre's letter and no one should have any confusion on the issue as the chief secretary has been found innocent.

On the jumbo size of his expanded Cabinet, the chief minister said: "If there was a small Cabinet, I would have become a mere clerk. Now I am an administrator and not a clerk in this Cabinet."