Bureaucrats set to face trial in Adarsh scam

4 ex-CMs get clean chit from Maharashtra Cabinet

Making a major U-turn, the Maharashtra Cabinet on Thursday decided to accept the recommendations of a judicial commission’s report on the Adarsh Housing Society scam, albeit partially, two weeks after rejecting it. However, the Cabinet gave clean chits to the politicians indicted in the report.

Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan said, though the report had charged four former chief ministers of the state — Ashok Chavan, Vilasrao Deshmukh, Sushilkumar Shinde and Shivajirao Nilangekar Patil — of giving political patronage to the project, no criminality could be established, so no action was required, against them. Nationalist Congress Party’s Sunil Tatkare and Rajesh Tope, both former ministers, were also absolved of the charges.

Besides, on expected lines, the 12 officials — those in service as well as those retired — will face action for breach of service conduct rules. A departmental inquiry will be initiated against them.

The State Cabinet had on December 20 rejected the 670-page report given by a two-member judicial commission. But, after Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi distanced himself from the decision last week, the Maharashtra government was seen as moving towards making a U-turn on the decision.

Chavan also made it clear that no separate FIRs would be filed by the state government against those figuring in the Central Bureau of Investigation’s FIR or those chargesheeted by the agency. CBI has filed an FIR and a chargesheet against five, including Ashok Chavan.

Governor K Sankaranarayanan had recently rejected CBI’s plea to prosecute Ashok Chavan. The Opposition had made a fresh plea to the governor to reconsider his decision and threatened to move court on the issue.

Congress insiders admitted Ashok Chavan’s problems were far from over; he might face a legal battle ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.

The Cabinet has also decided to initiate cancellation of flat allocation done in 22 benami transactions. CBI has already launched action in this regard under the provisions of Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Act, 1988.

Further, the state Cabinet also recommended the cancellation of membership of 25 of the 102 members in Adarsh CHS for being ineligible, as observed by the judicial commission. Action will be initiated under the provisions of the Maharashtra Land Revenue Act, 1966.