Adarsh: Maharashtra recommends suspension of official

The Maharashtra government today recommended the suspension of Information Commissioner Ramanand Tiwari for his alleged role in the Adarsh Cooperative Housing Society scam.

Tiwari would not attend office till an inquiry into the scam, Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan told a press conference after a weekly cabinet meeting. The cabinet gave its approval in this regard.

The proposal to suspend Tiwari was placed before Governor K Sankaranarayanan. The governor’s spokesman confirmed the former had received a formal request from the state government to make a reference to the Supreme Court for Tiwari’s removal.

Tiwari, whose son, Omkar, has a flat in the Adarsh society, reportedly withheld information on the controversial housing complex, which was meant for widows and kin of Kargil war heroes.

Tiwari had earlier refused to resign and argued he was not connected to the scam. As the secretary of the relevant department, he had allegedly played a crucial role in getting his son’s membership with the society.

Earlier, Tiwari had applied for a three-month leave, starting from January 7. But the application was rejected by the Governor.

Following preliminary enquiry by the government’s general administrative department, the chief minister’s office had sought resignations from former IAS officers Tiwari and Subhash Lalla. Lalla resigned a few days ago as member of the State Human Rights Commission but Tiwari has been defiant and had refused to resign.