BJP demands FIR against guilty before probing Adarsh scam further

Welcoming the Bombay High Court's order in the Adarsh Society scam, Mumbai Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief Ashish Shelar on Saturday demanded that Maharashtra government should lodge an first information report (FIR) in the case.

Some people had benefited in the scam and hence we want registration of an FIR first and not just re-inquiry, he said.

The Bombay High Court had on Friday ordered the demolition of the 31-storey scam-tainted Adarsh apartments in the heart of Mumbai and sought criminal proceedings against politicians and bureaucrats for "misuse" of powers, holding that the tower was illegally constructed.

"The ramifications of the case which involves cheating are wide. The role of politicians who helped their relatives obtain flats in the controversial Adarsh society needs to be probed," Shelar told reporters here.

During the previous Congress-NCP regime, the then governor denied permission to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to prosecute then chief minister Ashok Chavan in the case, he said.

After the BJP-led state government took over in 2014, the present Governor Ch Vidyasagar Rao granted CBI the permission to prosecute the guilty, Shelar said.

The role of the officials of Mumbai civic body and those in the state government should also be investigated, he said.

"An inquiry will reveal everything but we demand that the government first file an FIR," Shelar added.

The posh 31-storey Adarsh Housing Society is constructed on a prime plot of land in Colaba here. It was meant for Kargil war widows and defence personnels.

However, politicians, bureaucrats and military officers allegedly conspired to bend rules and obtained flats for themselves or for relatives at below-the-market rates.

The scam that came to light in November 2010 had forced the then chief minister Ashok Chavan to resign.