HC bench recuses to hear Adarsh petition against minister

A division bench of Bombay High Court today recused itself from hearing a petition which sought a direction to CBI to make former Maharashtra minister Shivajirao Patil-Nilangekar as an accused in the case of alleged benami transactions in Adarsh Housing Society.
"Not before us," said a bench of Justices N H Patil and V L Achiliya when the petition filed by activist Praveen Wategaonkar came up for hearing.
Justice Achilya said he was the secretary of Law and Judiciary before becoming a judge of the High Court and in that capacity had dealt with the files of Adarsh society.
Hence, it would not be proper for this bench to hear the matter.

The petition alleged that Patil, during his tenure as state revenue minister, had granted certain approvals to the society illegally. In return, his son-in-law was allotted a flat in the plush high rise building in south Mumbai.
Wategaonkar alleged that CBI was suppressing certain facts from the court regarding Patil-Nilangekar, who was also the chief minister of Maharashtra earlier.
He told the bench that the state government has partly accepted the findings submitted by a judicial inquiry commission which probed into the Adarsh case and hence CBI should also be directed to look into the findings.
"The commission in its report has named several bureaucrats and ministers for alleged favouritism towards the society. CBI should look into these aspects," he said.