A day after the Allahabad high court stayed all criminal proceedings against her bete noire, Samajwadi Party chief  Mulayam Singh Yadav, in a flurry of cases filed by the Uttar Pradesh government last month, Chief Minister Mayawati on Thursday said she would abide by the court order.

"I believe in the rule of law," Mayawati said in a statement.

Denying that the probe into the use of chief minister's discretionary fund when Mulayam was in power was initiated with any political motive, Mayawati said: "My idea was to simply investigate and punish those who were guilty of misusing public money. At a meeting of my senior officials on April 28, I had specifically asked them to ensure that no harassment was caused to any innocent person."

The chief minister said she "does not believe in political vendetta."

Apart from the 148 cases registered against Mulayam Singh Yadav in just two days in different parts of the state in April, as many as  67 FIRs were lodged against alleged beneficiaries of the chief minister's discretionary fund during his two tenures as chief minister  -- December 5, 1989 to June 24, 1991 and December 4 ,1994 to June 3 , 1995.

Staying all proceedings in each of the cases on Wednesday, a division bench of the Allahabad high court had fixed August 18 for the final hearing.

Well known criminal lawyer and former Union minister, Ram Jethmalani, appeared for Mulayam and others accused.