"When Mulayam Singh Yadav can scold the chief minister, there is nothing wrong in his scolding an official," Akhilesh said to pointed questions by newspersons in Farrukhabad.
Meanwhile, Governor Ram Naik refused to comment on the controversy, terming it is a political issue.
"I will not comment on it...It is a political issue," he said, adding, "Whatever has to be done, will be done."
The SP chief is in the eye of a storm after he allegedly threatened with serious consequences IG-rank IPS officer Amithabh Thakur asking him to mend his ways.
More From This Section
Senior UP minister Ahmed Hasan, himself a retired IPS officer, trashed Thakur's claims as "irresponsible and childish" and demanded stern action against him.
"Such a behaviour amounts to absolute indiscipline...Stern action should be taken against him as it can leave a wrong impact on the police force," Hasan said, adding that no government should ignore this kind of behaviour of its senior officer.
Meanwhile, another senior UP minister Azam Khan demanded that the charges of rape levelled on Thakur should be probed thoroughly. "He has committed an immoral act and should not be spared," Khan said in Jhansi.