Adarsh scam: Maharashtra Govt names members of inquiry panel

Former Bombay High Court Chief Justice J A Patil will head the Commission to probe alleged irregularities in Adarsh Housing Society scam that has seen the resignation of Ashok Chavan as Chief Minister.

The Commission will submit its report in three months, Chief Minister Prithviraj Chagan told reporters here.

Former Maharashtra Chief Secretary P Subramanian will be the other member of the Commission. The decision to set up by the two-member judicial commission was announced by the government during winter session of legislature last month.

"The inquiry Commission to probe irregularities in Adarsh would be headed by former Bombay High Court Chief Justice J A Patil which will have former Chief Secretary P Subramanian as its second member," Prithviraj Chavan said.

The Commission has been set up under the Inquiry Commission Act, 1952, he said.

"The Commission would look into the matter of land ownership of Adarsh society, if the land was reserved for Kargil war martyrs, reservation of flats, expansion of (nearby) Prakash Pethe Road, change in reservation of the BEST (civic) plot, violation of Coastal Regulation Zone norms and role of bureaucrats," the Chief Minister said.

The Commission would also make recommendations to avoid any such cases in future, he said.

Chavan said the state government was serious about probing the "violations" by Adarsh society.

The 31-storeyed Society in posh Colaba, south Mumbai, was allegedly built on a plot reserved for Kargil martyrs and flats were alloted to kin of bureaucrats and politicians. The alleged irregularities surfaced a few months ago and the then Chief Minister Ashok Chavan had to resign over the scam.